Tales of Insurrection
by Lunar Wolf Fenrir
Summary: A Vella who can't remember her past comes to Colhen in order to reclaim it. Rated M for swearing, gore, and sexual themes
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Vindictus. Vindictus belongs to Nexon. I only own the rights to Shana. Thank you and have a nice day.

_Text in italics usually is a character's thoughts._

**Bold text is usually the text on a sign, or when a powerful creature is speaking**

_**Bold italics : These are telepathic thoughts usually spoken by creatures of high intelligence, such as Wenshardt, (The Giant Spider)**_

Tales of Insurrection

-Off the coast of Colhen-

"So, this is Colhen?" A hooded woman holding twin swords asked the ferryman as they docked.

"Yeah. You said you were looking for work, right?" The ferryman asked, wondering if he'd see her again.

The woman nodded in response.

"Then you'll want to meet up with the Crimson Blades." "Talk with Aodhan or Marrec."

"The Crimson Blades? What do they do exactly?" She asked. She figured she might as well figure out what she'd be doing exactly.

"They're a mercenary group, and the people you wanna go to for work. Especially if you plan on using those blades. If you need help on using those, I recall there is a dual wielder amongst them, he might be able to help you."

_Another duel wielder, huh? This might be interesting._ The woman thought to herself.

The hooded woman turned to the ferryman, "Thanks for the ride, mister…" It suddenly dawned on her that she never asked the ferryman his name. "What is your name exactly?"

"The name's Matt! You take care now!"

The woman thanked him and entered the village of Cohen.

Upon entering the village, she saw a sign to her left reading: **CRIMSON BLADES HQ, MERCENARIES WELCOME!** In bold letters.

_Time to meet the locals, I suppose…_ The walked in the building to see it was mostly empty.

"_Where the hell is everyone?_" She thought to herself, but noticed a redheaded girl wearing a brown robe approach her.

"You the new recruit?" The redhead asked.

"Something like that. Where is everyone? I was told you needed some new blood." A slight tinge of annoyance in her voice.

The redhead pointed to the giant bell tower. "Go there! Now! They need all the help they can get!"

"Why?" The hooded one asked.

"Because they need some help killing a giant spider" The redhead stated in a "matter-of-factly" tone

"Please tell me that was a joke…" The hooded one asked.

"Nope!"

"Shit! Where do I go?" She asked in urgency.

"Soon as you leave, go straight! You can't miss it!"

The hooded woman bolted out the door almost letting her hood fall.

-At the Weathered Bell Tower-

As the hooded woman looked up at the giant spider, only one thought ran through her head.

"_You have GOT to be fucking kidding me…"_

She was about to start mentally ranting to herself when a man brushed up against her shoulder.

"Keep it together rookie." He told her.

As she looked around all she could see were men. She assumed there were no female members in the blades, at least, none that actually fought.

"_Well, this isn't awkward at all!" _She thought to herself

"Ballistae, take aim!" A gruff voice ordered, the woman assumed this was Aodhan.

"STOP!" A blonde woman exclaimed and got in the way of the ballista on the front lines.

"Tieve, it's dangerous, get out of the way!" A younger man wearing a helmet and a red tunic moved to her side.

She replied "Marrec, don't you trust me?"

_So that's Marrec… _The hooded woman thought to herself,

She decided to just let things play out, seeing as how Marrec seemed to know Tieve well.

"Blades, advance!" She followed suit.

-Inside the Weathered Bell Tower-

Aodhan decided to kick the door open. After detecting no threats, he pulled the visor on his helm up, allowing him to see his surroundings better. He spotted something on the ground, and decided to pick it up.

_Something isn't right here. _Both the hooded woman and Aodhan thought to themselves at the same time.

Suddenly, a hail of arrows came from nowhere and hit most of the Blades in the front, the hooded one ducking behind some cover and waited for the hail of arrows to stop.

She saw Tieve out there like a sitting duck.

"Rookie…protect…the oracle." She heard Marrec say before he seemed to pass out.

"I will." She said, much to Marrec's surprise right before he lost consciousness.

As the gnolls started running towards Tieve, only one thought was running through her mind.

_I don't want to die!_

The next thing she saw was the rookie in front of her, with blood running down her right hand, which was gripping the club tightly. Her hood had also fallen off her head, revealing long black hair going down to the middle of her back. The raven-haired woman turned to Tieve and asked her one question:

"Are you alright, Oracle?"

"Y-yes… I'm fine, but what about you? You're wounded!" Tieve's made a mental note to learn the Raven-haired one's name later if they made it out alive.

Tieve's blue eyes met her protector's red eyes and the raven-haired one smiled to her, and reassured her.

"This will take just a moment, don't blink." In a flick of her wrist, the red-eyed woman swept the gnoll of its feet, grabbed it by the throat, and slammed it into the wall, snapping its neck instantly.

_Wait, those red eyes…and that hair, theres no way…it can't be her! _Tieve noted in her mind.

When the red-eyed woman offered her hand, Tieve took it and once she was on her feet. She thanked her.

"Wait!" The oracle exclaimed. "I need to give you first aid!" She directed her friend to an area and they sat down.

_What the hell came over me back there? Why did I just…snap? _She looked at the Oracle with curiosity in her eyes. _There's something familiar about this girl. But what? I felt like…I HAD to protect her._

The Oracle looked at her once she finished bandaging her hand, and watched as her protector flexed her right hand, and looked at her with a smile. "Thanks, it feels better." As she went to pick up her sword the Oracle noticed her stance and that this friend looked extremely familiar… but she couldn't remember why.

As they continued up the tower, the Oracle asked her guardian, "Have we met before? I feel like I know you from long ago…But I can't remember why…" She looked down.

Her guardian replied "You too? It's weird, but I felt the exact same way." She held out her arm in front of the Oracle. "Hang on" She put her hand to the ground and felt for a tremor, but it was gone...

The Oracle looked at her with concern. As they ascended the tower

"Hey…Oracle?"

"Yes?"

"I think we found your pet spider."

In the blink of an eye, the spider slapped Tieve with one of its legs and knocked her into a wall, unconscious.

"ORACLE!" She dashed over to her fallen friend and shook her as the spider approached…

When the spider was mere feet away, it felt some type of ….magic? No… Suddenly, it felt a torrent of killing intent emanating from the Raven haired girl.

"You...**BASTARD!**" The Raven haired girl turned around, wind picking up around her and beginning to cover her blades, her normally calm red-eyes became filled with rage as the pupils distorted into slits.

With a mighty scream, the fallen Oracle's protector lunged at the spider with amazing speed and landed a severe blow that was rewarded with a scream from the spider.

"Come on you son of a bitch! I know that you're stronger than that!"

It was at this point the Oracle awoke, and watched in fascination, and in horror, as her friend fought like a demon against the spider that had injured her.

The protector began raining blow after blow on the spider, not paying attention to the wind building up around her blades from her own rage. Then, she just stood there, waiting for the spider to attack…

…it took the bait.

Seeing her opening, she crouched down, and positioned her blades, behind her as if she was about to spin, then, she dashed forward, cutting clean through the giant beast's abdomen… and also breaking her swords.

"FUCK! Not now! Goddess dammit give me a weapon!"

Her prayers were answered when it began raining ballistae bolts….literally.

"Well, not what I had in mind, but it'll do!"

While the giant beast was pinned down, the young protector began to stab the spider, only to jump back as the ballistae turned the spider into swiss cheese.

She finally calmed down, thinking the battle was over. But she heard a voice…

"_**Kill…Me."**_

"Who's there!?" The girl spun around and realized the spider was trying to talk to her.

Before the voice could respond, a giant bell landed on the great spider, followed by the Oracle rushing to the spider's side.

As she was listening, the adrenaline rush faded from her body and she fainted, faintly aware that she was being carried…

-Colhen-

After sleeping for most of the day, the Oracle's protector woke up to see Tieve staring at her…

"Good morning to you too, Oracle."

Said Oracle giggled lightly and wiped her eyes.

"Thanks for saving me" the Oracle said. "Can I ask you something?"

"Shoot."

"What's your name?"

"It's Shana,"

"Ugh, my freaking head…. What happened…?" "I remember seeing you get knocked out, then I just…snapped."

"You probably blacked out after the fight, my guess is that your adrenaline and desire to defend Tieve were the only things keeping you standing."

Shana's head turned to the source of the voice, a man who looked to be in his early thirties with brown hair cut very short. A name tugged at the back of her mind. Perhaps this is Aodhan?

"Aodhan, I presume?" Shana asked, her red eyes scanning his gray ones.

"That I am, and you must be Shana, the new recruit, and an odd one at that."

"Sorry for stealing your thunder captain" She hopped out of bed to shake his hand only to notice that she didn't have her gloves or her old armor at all,

"Oracle?" Shana asked, "Where is my armor?"

"Well, it kinda got...destroyed in the fight"

Shana looked down at her new attire, the Premium rookie set. "I see, so I'll be wearing this for now?"

Aodhan nodded.

Shana sighed, "Ah well." Suddenly, a thought crossed her mind. "Umm… Aodhan, sir? What time is it?"

Aodhan chuckled, "You've been out for at least a day, and it's about midnight now."

"Midnight huh? Damn, I've been out for a while haven't I?"

"You can come by the HQ in the morning…"

"Will do. Good night Captain." Shana said as she fell back to sleep.

"Sleep well Shana" replied the captain as he walked back to his room.


	2. Training

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Vindictus. Vindictus belongs to Nexon. I only own the rights to Shana. Thank you and have a nice day.

The story will be told from Shana's POV unless stated otherwise.

-Colhen, Noon, Shana's Room-

As I woke up, I could hear someone knocking on my door.

"It's open." I replied.

It was Aodhan, coming to check up on me I suppose. He had something in his hands, it appeared to be a pair of swords.

"Good morning, Shana, I trust you slept well?"

"I can't complain, decent beds for a small village." He tossed me the twin swords while they were in their scabbards. "I'm gonna assume it's time for me to get started?"

"That's right"

_Well, let's get started  
_

"Where do I go for my training?" I asked him

"Oh, just go talk to Matt at the docks, he'll point you in the right direction." I nodded in response and left the Inn.

-Colhen Docks-

As soon as I left the town, I saw that Matt, the ferryman, wasn't there, so I decided to sit down at the campfire until he arrived. After a few minutes, the ferry arrived.

"Hey Matt! Remember me?"

"Have we met before?" The ferryman replied, much to my disappointment until I remembered I had a hood on last time.

"Oh, right. I forgot I had a hood on when I talked to you last. My apologies, I'm the woman that was asking you about the Crimson Blades." I held out my hand for a handshake "The name's Shana."

"Shana, huh?" I nodded in response and decided to ask him for a ride to the training grounds. "Hey, can you take me to the mercenary training area? I asked Aodhan but he wouldn't tell me."

"You ever wondered why there isn't any roads linking the various locations the mercenaries go to?" I nodded for him to continue. "It's because all of the aforementioned locations are actually linked by the river this boat sits on!"

"I see, well, that explains quite a bit. But back to the subject at hand, can you take me to the training ground the Crimson Blades use?"

Matt nodded "Of course I can! Hope you've got a book to read, because it might be a while."

-At the Perilous Ruins-

As my boots hit the ground and the boat shoved off back to Colhen, a thought occurred to me: Just how will I get back to Colhen? I suppose I'll just let the chips fall where they may. I decided to take the time to examine my surroundings.

From what I could tell, the ruins definitely looked the part. There were vines covering most of the walls in this place, going by how weathered the stones walls looked, I'd wager that they've taken a good amount of years to weather down, and maybe a century or two before they start to really crumble.

Taking a deep breath, I advanced slowly. Eventually I came across what looked to be wooden golems designed to act like the gnolls.

_Why the hell am I so tense? They're just like gnolls, except they're not, which brings to mind, have mercenaries actually died here on their training regimen?"_

After I killed the first few wood gnolls, I took a deep, breath, and relaxed. As I progressed throughout the ruins, I realized a terrible flaw I had made: I never sharpened my blades. Within the first few minutes, my swords began to show nicks in the blade. This worried me immensely, so I started using the spears I brought along with me. I was kind of shocked at how satisfied I felt when one of the spears decapitated a gnoll and stuck its wooden head to the wall.

By the time I reached the open area housing the boss of the wood gnolls, I had run out of spears, my blades were on the verge of breaking, and I was pretty sure I had a few fractured ribs. As I walked into the area, the boss wood gnoll appeared before me out of thin air, much to my surprise. As soon as he started moving he summoned some of his lackeys: two archers and a generic gnoll. I made a mental note to always go for the archers first, I learned how much those arrows hurt the hard way.

As I was taking out the first one, I felt one slip past my arm, it might have only grazed it, but it still hurt like a bitch what with my armor not giving me much protection.

After I took out the boss's support, I assessed my current situation: Pretty bad. My armor was torn to the point where my bra was mostly visible, I was bleeding in multiple locations, I had a slight concussion, and my swords were broken.

_Shit…this is not looking good. Think woman, think! _I then saw how most of the gnolls had turned to stone. _The hell? They turned to stone? I'll have to remember that later._ Looking at my broken swords, I feigned surrender. Then, the gnoll, taking the bait, tried to crush my skull with an overhead strike from my left. At the last possible second, I gripped the club with my left hand so he couldn't escape, then I gripped my sword tightly with my right hand and jabbed it into the gnoll's skull. I felt the grip on the club loosen as the gnoll collapsed.

After I realized I won, I noticed some dark jelly-like substance where I killed the gnoll. I felt compelled to reach into it. When I did so, my hand felt something so I ripped it out, and I found some broken arrows and wood planks in the other two 'evil cores' as I decided to call them.

I took noticed of some blue light emanating from the area the boss was protecting, as I entered the light, I felt nauseated, and then I reappeared in the Crimson Blade HQ. At this point I coughed and noticed it was blood and it felt hard to breathe. Marrec looked at me with wide eyes as he saw my injuries. I was standing through sheer force of will. As soon as I felt safe, I felt darkness take me, with Marrec's calls for a medic fading out.


	3. Recovery

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Vindictus. Vindictus belongs to Nexon. I only own the rights to Shana. Thank you and have a nice day

Again, unless stated otherwise, the story is told from Shana's POV

_Italics without quotations: Thoughts_

_**Bold italics: Powerful creature speaking via telepathy**_

**Bold: Generally badass things. Also text found on signs, or a powerful entity speaking directly**

-Shana's Room-

I woke up feeling a pain on my breasts, when I looked up I saw Tieve sobbing. "Tieve, can you get off of me please? It kinda hurts."

She looked at me with relief in her eyes. "OH MY GODDESS YOU'RE ALRIGHT! I was so worried I'd lose my childhood friend!" She hugged me even tighter, which was really starting to hurt.

I coughed harshly, and coughed up a little blood. "Tieve, crushing bones!"

She released me immediately, and looked at me harshly. "Do not worry me like that again! Seriously! I thought I was going to have to perform a memorial rite!"

Before she could continue ranting, I stopped her by getting out of bed, walking up to her, and hugging her tightly. I reassured her. "Tieve, I'll be fine, okay? You know I have a knack for spitting in Death's face when he comes calling. When she kept crying I remembered something my mother did for me when I was crying.

I pulled Tieve close to me and began running me hand through her hair. "Shh…it's alright, don't cry. I'm right here. Everything's going to be all right" Eventually, she calmed down, then she jumped. "Oh goddess, I completely forgot! Marrec wanted to see you as soon as you woke up!"

"I'll go see him right away." I said as I reached the door, "And Tieve? Don't worry about me, I'll be fine."

-At the Crimson Blades HQ-

As I entered, I noticed Marrec bitching at some woman who looked like a military type, I didn't pay any attention to them and decided to let the chips fall where they may, in the meantime, I decided to go talk to the redheaded woman in the brown robe.

As I sat down next to her, she turned to me and asked, "Hell of a week, huh?"

I chuckled lightly, "Like you wouldn't believe, I didn't catch your name last time we met, I'm the hooded woman you pointed to the tower. First day on the job and I end up fighting a sentient giant spider, THEN I get sent off to train, and get a concussion, some fractured ribs, and what I think might have been a punctured lung. I presume you had a medic heal most of my internal injuries?"

The redhead nodded. "You were in pretty rough shape when you got back, how you feel now?"

I checked my breasts for any damage, and thankfully, there was no damage to them "Well, my assets weren't damaged, so that's always good, I try to keep my appearance, and prove that I'm not just another pretty face. But back to your question, I'm still a little bit sore, but I'll manage. I figure I'll be good to go by tomorrow. I don't believe I introduced myself when we met last."

I held my hand out, "Name's Shana, and you are?"

She took my hand and shook it "Ceara. Man, when you came back from the training area, we thought you were done for. What the hell happened that gave you so much trouble?"

I grimaced as my lungs started acting up. "Swords broke, had to trick the boss into thinking I had surrendered, when he went in for the kill, I grabbed his club with my left hand, and I stabbed it in the face with my right sword, or rather what was left of it."

Ceara looked at me with wide eyes "Wait, you GRABBED the business end of the spiked club, with your bare hand?!" I nodded, "What about it?"

Ceara looked at me like I was a different person "What about it? That's crazy!"

I gave her another chuckle. "That was the point, would you really expect your foe to grab your weapon to keep you trapped, and then attack you with a broken weapon?"

Ceara shook her head. "No, I suppose not. Anyways, it looks like Marrec is about done talking to Gwynn."

I looked at her curiously, "Gwynn, who's that?"

Ceara replied without having to look at me, "She's a representative of the Royal Army, they're the closest thing you can get to a government around these parts."

I nodded sagely, "I see. I've never been one for politics, it just ruins friendships, and it gets you absolutely nowhere, there are a few good people in this world, like Keaghan, speaking of which, how is that handsome devil doing nowadays?"

This time it was Ceara's turn to laugh. "You won't believe this, but he's the Supreme Commander of the Royal Army!"

My eyes widened. "Really?! Son of a bitch. Well, I gotta talk to Marrec now, kept him waiting long enough since I was out cold.

"Yo! Marrec!" Marrec turned to see me standing there leaning against the wall and approached me. I continued, "You wanted to see me? I'll bet I looked like a weakling when I came out from what should have been a simple exercise, but I have a legitimate excuse…" I told him the same story I told Ceara.

As I finished explaining Marrec's eyes were as wide as dinner plates. "Damn, well, anyways, Captain Aodhan wanted me to give you this." He handed me a black hoodie with dark brown sleeves. "This is the Crimson Blades Tunic, welcome to the Crimson Blades."

I hugged him tightly, "Oh thank you Marrec! If you weren't wearing that helmet I'd kiss you right now!" I winced as my ribs flared up and I dropped down to one knee. "AH! Son of a BITCH that hurt!"

Marrec held me up and led me to a chair. "Easy Shana, you were pretty much a dead woman walking when you returned, try not to be in such a hurry to almost die again."

I started whining like a child "But Marrec…" I drew out his name like a little kid complaining to its mother "It's so much fun." He gave me a glare, or at least he attempted to, seeing as how I couldn't see his face at all. I decided to point this out. "You know, Marrec, glares tend to work better when they can see your face"

He smacked me upside the head "I'm serious Shana, get some more rest."

I frowned "Fine, no dangerous missions, but I'm at least going to train, besides, I heard there was another dual-wielder? I wanted to compare my style to his once I got better, I mean, I'm no master of my style yet, but still…"

"What is your sword style anyways?" Marrec asked. I looked at him eagerly, "You got a pair of twin swords?" He nodded and fetched me a pair of swords from the storage and handed them to me. "Will these do?" He asked me. I began weighing the weapons in my hands before smirking "A fine pair of blades, these will do nicely. My normal stance consists of having one sword out in front of me in relaxed form of the basic grip, and the other sword I keep in a relaxed form as well, but held behind me in a reverse grip. My style revolves around a single philosophy: Willows are weak, but they bind other wood.

Marrec looked at me through his helmet, and I giggled, "Curious as to what it means?" He nodded "It means that power alone is rigid. But, if you move with the wind, you'll never break." Marrec realized what I was getting at and replied "I see, so you try to make your style flow from attack to attack, much like a dance." I continued "Exactly! The way I see it, if you make your attacks flow like a river, you will have little to no openings in your attacks! I also learned something interesting, I can use magic, wind magic specifically. Let's head outside first."

Now this caught Marrec's attention, "Really now? Might I see?" I responded with the look of someone who's eager to show off, "Sure! Give me a moment" I tossed my swords some distance away from me, where they stuck into the ground, at this point, I closed my eyes and allowed my arms to fall limp at my sides so I could concentrating.

_Concentrate, remember what master taught you,_

As I concentrated, I could hear Aodhan "Ah Shana, you're-"

Marrec interrupted him "Quiet Captain, Shana is showing me something, you'll want to see this…"

_Let your body be like the wind, always flowing, yet ready to move at a moment's notice_

I could feel the wind picking up around me as my hair flowed upwards. Then, I opened my eyes, Marrec was looking at me in wonder. I moved my arm in the direction of the sword, and it came to me at a high speed, but slowed down as it reached my hand. I did the same with the second one.

"Your eyes, they're…glowing, and your pupils are slitted." Aodhan said as the other sword came to rest in my other hand as my hair fell back down.

I looked at him skeptically, "Is that true, Marrec?" He nodded, "Yeah, I've seen mages cast magic before, but I never saw their body react that way." How often do you use it? Your wind magic I mean?"

I looked at Marrec, "I can't use it as much as I'd like in combat, as I fight, my mind clears up, allowing me to use it in short bursts, I do fiddle around with it when I get bored though, so if you feel magic being used while I'm resting, it's more than likely my doing.

Aodhan nodded "If your wounds heal tomorrow, I'll have you go out on a real mission, with working swords, keep those sword Marrec gave you for now."

I nodded towards Aodhan, "Will do, I'll see you when I wake up."

As I headed back to the Inn, I yawned loudly. _Huh, I guess that little show of my wind magic was more taxing than I thought_…

As soon as I got settled into my bed, I felt the darkness take me off to sleep.

**A/N: I always thought that Vella's wind magic could have been expanded upon (i.e. Typhoon Slash, Backlash, etc.) and I decided to do so. See ya in the next Chapter of "Tales of Insurrection" **


	4. Bonds

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Vindictus. Vindictus belongs to Nexon. I only own the rights to Shana. Thank you and have a nice day

Same shit as before, if you read the previous chapters, you know what the varying text types represent (Bold, italics, etc.)

-The Inn-

I woke up around noon, feeling more shit-faced than I usually do when I sleep like a rock, as I left my room, I bumped into Tieve, who I talked with for a bit, not really listening due to still being groggy. What she said next caught my attention though. "Hey Shana, have you met Gwynn's cadet yet?"

I merely replied with "No, who is it?" She smiled like she usually does and told me his name was Ellis.

I figured since I'd be out of commission for a while, I might as well greet the kid, and headed towards the HQ.

-Crimson Blades HQ-

As I walked in, I saw a new face in the HQ. The newcomer was dressed completely in brown with a beret of the same color. Marrec took this moment to assess my injuries, and informed me of said assessment. "Damn, Shana, you're up already?"

I laughed a little bit, "Ha! You should have seen me when I got out of bed, my hair was everywhere and I looked like I was drunk off my ass!" This got Marrec cracking up, when the boy in brown approached us.

"Hey Marrec, what's so funny?" The boy asked him.

Marrec had a shit-eating grin which alarmed me, "Well, Ellis, Shana here was basically telling me how she woke up looking and feeling like she just had some drunk sex!"

I started blushing furiously and punched him in the sides with my good arm, "You ass hat! That's not what I said!" Marrec was still laughing at me, "But it was implied!"

I clocked him again for good measure and looked at the new guy, and held out my hand while still as red as a tomato. "You're Ellis?"

He nodded, "I am, and you must be Shana, I've heard quite a bit about you."

I finally regained my face's normal color, no thanks to Marrec laughing his ass off despite being punched in his sides. "Yes, as you can see, I managed to get my ass handed to me yesterday. It's funny. I can take out a Giant spider single-handedly for the most part, but I can't take out wooden golem designed to emulate a gnoll, at least, not without a little trickery. I did take a few knocks to the head, and one of said knocks jarred my memory a bit."

Once Marrec finally recovered, he seemed a little confused, "What do you mean by 'it jarred your memory'? You mean like you had amnesia?"

I looked towards him "Not quite. Yesterday, before I went to sleep, I decided to take a trip to Brynn to see about my memories. It turns out, someone _sealed_ my memories, I asked him to restore them, but he said the seal is quite advanced, and even then, the shock of the memories rushing back to me by itself could easily fuck up my brain. So I figure I'll just make new memories and try to get my memories back piece by piece. Going by that small amount of info alone, I've determined that the reason I was able to hold my own against the spider was probably my body acting on muscle memory."

Marrec turned to me "So…that means that you were some kind of badass when you still had your memories?"

I shrugged, "It's not entirely out of question, but it's also likely I could have been nobody! For all I know I could be royalty!"

This caused Ellis to start laughing his ass off and I turned to him. "What's so funny Ellis?" He kept laughing, "Pfft, I just had a mental image of you in a noble's robe, sipping Tea!" Now that I had the image in my head too, I couldn't stop laughing myself!

Eventually we all calmed down and I finally started talking with Ellis in earnest, "So Ellis, what brings you to Colhen exactly? Gonna see if you can swoon some of the ladies with your cadet badge?"

He looked at me with a smirk, "No, I'm actually assigned to Gwynn for the time being, see, I'm trying to join the royal army! Currently, I'm a cadet in training."

I nodded, "Hmm, I see. In a way, we're in the same boat, just with different names on them. I'm in the Crimson Blades, and you're in the royal army." We talked for a few more hours when I heard a new voice.

"Yo, Marrec! I heard we got some new blood, and a pretty one at that! Is she in?" I heard a male voice call out, I turned my head to the source, a man with brown hair, swept back, holding twin swords on either side of his waist, he seemed to be around 25, in good shape, and had hazel eyes.

I decided to make myself known as I walked up to him and addressed him. "That would be me, my names Shana, what's yours? I'd shake your hand, but I banged up my right arm in my last fight."

He laughed for a few seconds, "Yeah, that wood gnoll can be a total bitch the first time around. You can call me Nolan. I hear that you are also a dual wielder?"

I nodded, "I think I'm a decent dual wielder but I know there's always room for improvement. I've been thinking of something."

He looked at me curiously, "What is it Shana, anything I can help with?"

I looked at him for a while, "Possibly, I'm trying to think of how I can incorporate my wind magic into my swordplay."

He looked at me critically, "You can use wind magic? That's a VERY rare trait nowadays, the last person who ever showed any signs of being able to use it was Lord Ingkells, but he was never able to develop it past the basic stages. From what Marrec told me however, you seem to have potential to truly develop it." At the mention of Marrec and my wind magic, the events regarding my eyes came back to the surface, and I decided to ask him about it.

"Umm, Nolan? Can I ask you something?"

He nodded, "Go ahead."

I continued, "When I showed Marrec my wind magic, he said my red eyes started glowing and my pupils became slitted, do you know what that could mean? Because he told me that hasn't happened with anyone else he saw using magic. I feel like this is really important to me, but I don't know _why_."

Nolan put his hand on my shoulder and reassured me. "Don't worry Shana, good things come to those who wait. Anyways, I gotta get back to Ryn."

This got my attention, "Ryn? Who's that?"

He gave me a look, "Truth is, Shana, I didn't come here just to reminisce, Ryn is my guild master, she's a nice woman usually, but you _really_ don't wanna get on her bad side. See, Ryn heard about you practically taking down the spider on your own, and wanted me to see if you would like to join our guild, _Insurrection_."

I cocked my head to the right as I thought about it. But decided against it for now, "Nolan, are there any perks to joining a guild?"

He smiled "Well, for one you'll be meeting new people, but you might meet some people who could help you develop your skills better. If you wanna see for yourself, we usually hang around the campfire at the docks."

I gave him a nod to know I understood what he was getting at. "Tell her that I'll think about it while I'm recovering, I should be good to go by tomorrow, I feel fine right now, but I want to be sure before I go out in the field again." I yawned loudly, and didn't realize that it was nearly midnight. I decided I'd head off to sleep, "I should go now, maybe I'll see you tomorrow?"

He shrugged, "Who knows? I hope so, see ya tomorrow!" After I waved back at him I decided to check a mirror before I went off to bed.

-Inn-

Having heard what Marrec and Aodhan had told me about my eyes, I decided to see if they were just pulling my leg, once I found one, I did the same technique for summoning my magic like I did the other day in front of Marrec. When I opened my eyes I was rather shocked that my eyes were indeed glowing and my pupils were in fact slitted. Satisfied, I headed off to bed. After an hour or so, I gave up on trying to sleep, and decided to walk around outside of Colhen.

-Just outside Colhen -

I decided I needed to take a walk to take my mind off of things, when I thought I heard what sounded like a dog whimpering. Picking up the pace, I found the source of the noise. A dire wolf caught in a bear trap. If theres one thing I have a soft spot for, its animals. As I helped the wolf out, I noticed something familiar about this wolf, it had a scar on its right side. Immediately, a name tugged at my mind.

"Fenrir? Is that you boy?" The wolf responded by tackling me and licking my face. Another memory flooded into my mind…

_-Flashback-_

_It was my 16__th__ birthday, and I was sitting in front of the campfire when Keaghan walked up to me with a gift in his hands that seemed to be moving and making whining sounds. I asked him "Keaghan, who is that gift for?" _

_He merely smiled and place it in my hands "It's for you! Open it!" I did so and was greeted to the site of a dire wolf cub that was looking at me like I was his mother. I couldn't help but let tears run down my eyes freely because nobody ever talked to me besides Marrec, Keaghan, and Tieve._

"_Keaghan…" _

_He looked at me with concern, "What's wrong Shana? What are you- mmph!" I walked up to him and gave him a full blown kiss. _

_When I finally drew away I had my hands behind my back. "Thank you Keaghan! Thank you so much!" I had a crush on Keaghan back then, I've grown out of it now, but he was still rather attractive for someone who was 21 at the time, I walked over to the Wolf cub and scooped him into my arms._

"_I think I'll call you Fenrir", the cub barked at me happily, seemingly pleased with his new name. From that point on, Fenrir was always at my side in battle, and at home._

_-End Flashback-_

"By the goddess boy, I can't believe it's really you!"

I heard footsteps rapidly approaching me, it was Nolan with his swords at the ready. "Shana, get away from that beast!"

I stood in front of Fenrir protectively as he growled and bared his fangs at Nolan, "No. Fenrir is my pet! I won't let you hurt him!"

Nolan seemed to ease up, "Ok, if you say so." I nodded, "Thanks Nolan, c'mon Fenrir." As I passed by Nolan, I could hear him mumble something about how I never cease to amaze him. I decided to head back to Colhen, satisfied with tonight's turn of events.

When I reached my room back at the Inn, Fenrir sat at the foot of my bed as I snuggled into the bed, and I fell asleep with a smile on my face.


	5. First Impressions

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Vindictus. Vindictus belongs to Nexon. I only own the rights to Shana. Thank you and have a nice day

Same shit as before, if you read the previous chapters, you know what the varying text types represent (Bold, italics, etc.)

General POV means that the story will be told in 3rd person

-Insurrection HQ, General POV-

Nolan was thinking about the recent turn of events and how he would submit his report to Ryn. _Hmm… I wonder what Ryn will think of Shana, should she decide to join our ranks._ Before he could continue his musings, he reached her room, rather than just open the door like he usually would, he decided to be formal and actually knock on the door for once. As he was about to a voice interrupted him.

"It's open" a firm, feminine voice told him. As he entered, he saw his guildmaster in her casual attire which consisted of the Sharpshooter armor, minus the hat. Ryn's experienced eyes scanned him for a moment, "Nolan, you don't usually knock, not unless it's serious. What's the occasion?"

He gave her a smirk, "You wanted me to observe that Shana chick. Turns out, she has a pet Dire Wolf, which also happens to be the one you sent me to get rid of last night"

Ryn's eyes widened slightly, "You're shitting me right? She has a _pet wolf_?!" When Nolan's facial expression didn't change she responded with "My Goddess, you're serious, aren't you?" Nolan merely nodded. "Well then." Ryn picked up her sword and shield as she smiled, "Let's go meet the recruit."

-Shana's Room and POV-

"Nolan, is this her room?" I heard a feminine voice outside my door,

"Yes ma'am" I could hear Nolan's voice.

_What's Nolan doing here? Something isn't right._ My gut told me to be on my guard, so I readied my wind magic and got out of bed, as soon as the door opened, Fenrir was ready to pounce and I was ready to fire off some magic. Nolan had his blades ready but a hand moved in front of him, cutting him off.

"Stand down, Nolan. I can handle this" The owner of the feminine voiced called out. I took this moment to examine the woman, she was a blonde, with hair flowing down to her back. She was dressed in some kind of light armor, I believe Kirstie called it the 'Sharpshooter' set. Her purple eyes were sharp, and just from looking at them I _knew_ I couldn't beat her in open combat. She also had quite a nice body, which was distracting me. Her voice took me out of my reverie. "Easy, Shana, I have no intentions of harming you or your pet wolf. I merely came to see for myself whether you would be an asset or a hindrance to the guild."

I looked at her, "You mean Insurrection?" The woman nodded and allowed me to continue "So that means you're Ryn?" Again, she nodded as I allowed my magic to die down as I turned to Fenrir whilst keeping an eye on her. "Fenrir, _down_" he complied by relaxing and returning to his normal pose.

"My apologies Ryn, I've been traveling for a while now to be on my guard."

Ryn smiled "Cautious as well? You do seem like a perfect candidate to the guild, and a beautiful one at that"

I laughed at her "Ha! You're one to talk with those things, they're as big as mine! I couldn't stop staring at them!"

This time it was Ryn's turn to laugh as she looked to Fenrir "Fenrir huh? I always heard Dire Wolves were the hardest to train."

I decided to grab my swords, "Ryn, can we talk outside? It's getting cramped in here." Ryn nodded and led the way as we got outside.

-Outside the Inn (Obviously)-

Once we got outside, I turned to Nolan. "Hey Nolan, I've been thinking how to improve my swordplay."

He looked at me curiously. "Oh? And how would that be exactly?"

Both he and Ryn were looking at me eagerly awaiting my solution. "I had an idea, what if I started using my wind magic in tandem with my swordplay?"

Ryn looked at me with wide eyes and exclaimed "By the Goddess that's brilliant! Now I simply _must_ have you in the guild!"

I held my hands up defensively, "I said _No_ for now, I'll think about it during my mission today. For now, I need to check up on Aodhan."

Ryn nodded, "Understood, I'll see you when you get back."

I called out to Fenrir "C'mon boy, let's go"

-Ryn's POV-

As Shana walked off, I noticed something. Something… _off_ about her. Before I could think on it any further, my holy inhabitant decided to voice her opinion on it.

"_**You sensed it too, didn't you milady? I don't think she's exactly human."**_

This caught my attention and I replied as such, "_Could you elaborate? I mean I can feel there's something more to her but I wouldn't go so far as to say she's not human."_

She sighed in annoyance _**"I keep forgetting you're not as good with sensing otherworldly things as I am. What I meant is that I can sense TWO souls inside her, much like you and I. What intrigues me is that the second soul is dormant, well, except for certain cases."**_

This just keeps getting better and better… Wait, what does she mean by 'certain cases'? "_Hang on a sec Beatrix, what are you talking about when you say 'certain cases'?" _

Beatrix merely chuckled and explained. _**"Do you remember that surge of energy I felt back at the bell tower?" **_

This time it was my turn to laugh _"How could I not? You were flipping your shit over it! It was actually kinda cute. But regardless, continue."_

Beatrix did as such. _**"I've been thinking it over in my mind for a while now and I can only come to one conclusion: That 'dormant soul' was trying to awaken. I recall Shana saying that she flew into a rage when the spider knocked out Tieve, if you want my honest opinion, I think that her emotions are the key to awakening that dormant soul. I also felt like there was some type of seal on her. As such, I think we should go talk to Brynn and Nyle."**_

I headed over to Brynn's and knocked on the door.

"It's open, come on in." a male voice called. I did as such and decided to talk to the blonde magician known as Brynn. He addressed me, "Ah, Ryn, you don't knock unless it's something serious."

I nodded. "Yeah, this is a serious occasion, Shana has some type of seal on her right?" Brynn set his beaker down as he gave me his full attention and ran his hand through his hair.

"Yes, a memory seal to be precise, and a _very_ advanced one at that. She tried to get me to remove it for her but it would have been _far_ too dangerous."

I was curious "How is removing an advanced memory seal dangerous? Would the overall rush of memories flooding back at once destroy her mind or something?"

Brynn nodded grimly, "That's exactly what would happen. But there was one thing I refused to mention to her, seeing as she isn't a member of the Silent Brotherhood. What I neglected to tell her is that it also seals the consciousness of any _additional _souls. Do you understand what I'm saying, Ryn?"

I shook my head and ventured a guess "I think so. Let me get this straight, if you were to perform the same seal on me, it would seal not only my memories, but it would seal Beatrix's consciousness as well?"

Brynn nodded, "Correct. Why did you wish to know about the seal exactly?"

"_**Milady, would you mind if I took over to explain?" **_Beatrix asked me,

I allowed Beatrix to take momentary control of my body and allowed her to explain.

"**Brynn, when we were around Shana this morning, I sensed something most curious. I sensed not one, but **_**two**_** souls inside her, very much like Milady and myself. The difference however, was that her 'other soul' was dormant. But it has shown signs of beginning to awaken. Do you recall the surge of energy we felt when the bell tower was under attack?" **

Brynn nodded, "I do. How is this relevant to Shana?"

Beatrix continued **"It turns out, that when the spider had damaged Tieve, Shana flew into a rage, so I think that her emotions are the key to awakening her dormant soul. While she does have two souls, I don't think it's the soul of a Dark Knight. What I did notice however, is when she thought we were hostile, her eyes were glowing and her pupils were distorted into **_**slits**_**. She might not be from Colhen for all we know. I have an inkling, but I won't know for sure until later. Oh and Milady? I'm giving you back your body." **

After I finally got control of my body again I turned to leave but I took one last look at Brynn. "Keep an eye on Shana, would you Brynn? For Tieve's sake."

He nodded in understanding as I walked out. "I will."

-Shana's POV-

As I walked inside the Blades' HQ I looked around for Aodhan, but I couldn't find him. I heard a male voice behind me that I didn't recognize. "Aren't you a little too pretty to be dressed for battle?" _Oh great, we have one of 'those' types of assholes…_ I thought to myself.

Then, said asshole decided to cop a feel, which angered me. "Go any further and I _will_ make you regret it." I said, gritting my teeth as my wind magic flared up.

"Oh really, what are you gonna do about it, bitch?"

I smirked, "Oh nothing really, I was just thinking about…" I spun around and clocked him square in the jaw with a fist I had reinforced with magic, sending him crashing into the wall. "Knocking your fucking lights out, you pig."

As I walked by him, I spat on him, and sat down next to an archer with a rugged face and sighed. The archer looked at me and started laughing. "What's so funny?" I asked, "You've got a hell of a right hook!" I pulled up my right fist that still had wind swirling around it. "I suppose so, that fucker had it coming!"

I heard Marrec walk in as he made a sharp whistle, "Holy shit! Who finally gave Gallagher what he deserved?"

"You mean the pig on the floor?" I deadpanned. I raised my hand "Guilty!"

Marrec put his hand on my shoulder as he took a deep sigh "Shana, why did you do it?"

I looked at him in shock, "Why did I do it? That fucker. G_rabbed. My. ASS!_ Not to mention he taunted me like he didn't think I was gonna do anything!"

The archer joined in, "It's true, Marrec, not to mention, he called her a bitch."

I turned to Marrec, "Marrec, you're damn lucky I know how to restrain myself from killing humans for the most part, otherwise, he would be on the floor, bleeding from a stump of a right arm! So don't get mad at me for putting some womanizing asshole in his place!" I finished by punching the table and splintering it for the most part, not caring that I could feel my hand bleeding.

The archer patted me on the shoulder. But stopped when he looked at my eyes. "Are your eyes usually red and slitted?"

I shook my head, "No. Well, they're always red, but they aren't slitted unless I'm really stressed or pissed. I'm calm now, why?" He looked at me again, as I felt my pupils revert to their normal shape. "You are indeed a beautiful one, I can see why he went for you, but Gallagher is…not very proficient in the tact department. I was actually waiting for Aodhan as well. But I-"

Marrec interrupted him "The captain is out on business at the moment, so for now just relax."

We both nodded in his direction, and I held out my hand to the archer, "I'm Shana, and you are?" The archer took my hand and shook it, "Alex, my name is Alex."


	6. Gwynn's Request

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Vindictus. Vindictus belongs to Nexon. I only own the rights to Shana and Alex. Thank you and have a nice day

Same shit as before, if you read the previous chapters, you know what the varying text types represent (Bold, italics, etc.)

General POV means that the story will be told in 3rd person

**A/N: Sorry for all the fluff, I needed to get some of the characters sorted out, but there IS some actual fighting in this chapter. So enjoy the gory images you'll have in your head when the fighting starts.**

-Merc Outpost-

As soon as Alex finished introducing himself to me. Gwynn called us over and began briefing us. "Okay you two, I'm sending you into the Perilous Ruins to see if there is any connection from the giant spider that attacked the bell tower a little over a week ago. The Pontiff's Court–who I work for- suspects this is part of the Fomor's plot to destroy humanity. Perform well, and I might be able to get you into the Royal Army. Any questions or comments?"

I spoke up, "Just one, what kind of opposition should we expect? I mean aside from the run-of-the-mill gnoll with a club."

Gwynn merely replied with "Nothing you two can't handle" I gave her the look that said _"Are you fucking serious?"_ and walked off with Alex.

As we walked to the boat we were greeted by Matt "Hey Shana! How did your training go?"

I grimaced and said "Let's see, I fractured two of my ribs, had a concussion, and punctured one of my lungs. Thankfully, whoever healed me was very well trained. Anyways, Alex and I are headed to the Perilous Ruins to investigate some stuff."

I noticed him looking at Fenrir with a look of fear, and decided to reassure him. "Don't worry, Matt, Fenrir is very tame, he won't harm you, unless I order him to.

He nodded skeptically, "Ok then, whatever you say… " As he finally allowed us onto the boat.

Once we got on the boat I began weighing my new swords, seeing as my old ones broke, they seemed to be a bit longer, while they didn't seem to be a good quality, I could tell from years of using swords that they were in good shape. Satisfied with the condition of my swords, I decided to sit down against the mast of the ship next to Alex.

I signaled to Matt that we were ready to depart and we decided to shove off. I looked towards Alex once we got moving, he really did have a nice face, and from what I could tell, he was very fit. I looked away when he turned to look at me, and I felt my face warming up.

"Hey, Shana?" I heard Alex call out to me.

I replied with "Hmm? What is it Alex?" I was genuinely curious why he wanted to speak with me, as I was more or less the social outcast in my childhood, from what I could remember at least.

He continued, "Where are you from?"

I thought for a moment, and I only saw flashes of fire, blood, and death. "I… I can't remember. When I try to think of where I was born, all that comes to mind is a town, burning as I hear the screams of men and women."

He looked at me with concern, "What do you mean you can't remember? Are you saying you have amnesia?"

I shook my head as I returned the look, "Not quite, from what Brynn told me, someone powerful has sealed my memories. However… "

The archer's interest was not yet sated "However… What?"

After I thought of the best way to put it I continued, "However, the seal is beginning to wear off. Recently, I've been having flashes of what I can assume to be my sealed memories as I sleep, and the seal obviously didn't cover all the bases. When I fought the giant spider, it was like my body was moving on instinct, reading the Spider's movements before I myself could process them. What do they call that again?"

Alex answered my question "That's called muscle memory."

I nodded "I see,"

I wasn't really paying much attention to him as I rested my head against my knees, "Hey, Shana, are you alright?"

I jolted up with a start, "Y-yeah, I'm fine… Hey Alex?"

He looked at me in response "How good are you with that bow? It looks… different from other shortbows I've seen."

He grinned at me "That's because it's not a shortbow."

I looked at him like he was retarded. "It's obviously a shortbow."

He held his hand up in a '_wait a second_' motion, as the shortbow swiftly turned into a longbow. "It's actually a compact longbow that becomes a shortbow when it's in its compact form."

"Well shit, that's convenient. I'm gonna take a nap. Wake me when we get there." I replied as I drifted off to sleep.

-Shana's Mind-

_I woke up to the sight of a woman who looked like me, only with her hair in a braid, fighting against a woman clad from head to toe in black leather who was wielding a scythe, which I must admit, was kind of turning me on for no reason whatsoever, she looked like the most beautiful woman I've ever seen._

"_**Hey! Snap out of it!"**__ A voice called out to me. As my mind cleared, I saw a floating black orb floating in front of me. _

_I looked around for the source of the voice, and looked at the floating orb. "Did you just… talk?" _

_The orb floated to my side and continued. __**"Yeah, so what? Never seen a floating black orb talk before? I'll bet you wanna know just what the hell we're watching don't ya?" **_

_I shook my head "A really kinky bitch fight?" I asked the orb. The orb seemed to laugh at this. _

"_**Ha! That's a good one! But anyways, what you're seeing right now is actually a memory from your past prior to your memory being erased. You're the woman with the braided hair. As for the smokin' hot chick in leather? That would be the Succubus."**_

_I looked at the orb curiously. "What's a Succubus?" _

_The orb continued, __**"A succubus is a demon that feeds by having sex. I'm all for a woman that loves to fuck, but even I have my limits! This Succubus, she's different. Usually a succubus steals the soul of their victim once said victim has reached their climax, but this one seems to have a liking for you." **_

_I looked to the orb, "What do you mean she has a liking for me?" _

_The orb continued__**. "This is the first time I've seen her have this much fun, usually she just jumps straight to the fucking, but I think she actually likes you. It isn't uncommon for a Succubus to fall for a human." **__I wanted to question him more on that subject but my attention was called back to the fight as I heard the succubus cry out in pain as my past self started handing the succubus her sweet, firm, ass. _

_I heard the Succubus say "Shh, just lie still for a moment." _

_Followed by my past self jumping back and exclaiming "Shit! That was close. You're good, Succubus!" _

_The succubus giggled, "As are you, you're the best fight I've had in my life. I'll bet you're even better in bed, and I have a name, you know!" _

_My past self eased her weapons, "Oh, and what might your name be?" _

_The Succubus took this chance and knocked my past self's weapons out of her hands as she pinned my past self to the wall as the succubus' right hand was dangerously close to my past self's panties. "My name, is Erica. Tell you what, if you ever come back and lose to me, I'll let you go after having you to myself for a few days." _

_My past self grinned "I'll have to take you up on that, but you're gonna have to work for it!" I saw my past self push Erica off of her with a blast of wind, grab her sword, and then lunge forward with a mighty horizontal slash. _

_When both of the combatants' weapons connected, they shattered. __**"Looks like you win this one." **_

_I looked at him with skepticism. "Umm, I'm pretty sure that's a tie, both my past self, and Erica's weapons broke". _

_The orb spoke again. __**"That may be, but Erica has no training whatsoever in hand to hand combat. You however have had training in such areas, do you remember when you punched the annoying one in the face this morning? Damn, that was classic!" **__I nodded. __**"You unconsciously used your wind magic to increase the force behind the punch." **_

_I had a look of shock on my face when I realized he was right. I decided I'd had enough of calling him a dark orb. "What is your name?" _

_The orb of darkness replied with a firm, but gentle voice. __**"Back at home most of the ladies call me 'Baby', but you can call me Abyssion." **_

_I looked at Abyssion and decided to ask him something. "Abyssion, right?" He gave me an affirmative grunt. "Are you able to talk with me while I'm awake?" _

_He replied with __**"Your memories are still too messed up to be able to speak with me at will yet. The reason we can speak now is because there is no seal on your dreams. That's why you have flashes of your life prior to your memory being sealed in your dreams, such as your fight with Erica. If you wish to learn about your true self, go to Ainle. If you wanna learn more about my kind, speak with the one you call 'Ryn' You know, the one with an awesome rack? Well, besides you of course. But seriously, talk to her if you wanna know more about my kind. We clear?"**__ I nodded as I felt my vision fill with light._

-Back to reality-

"Shana. Wake up."

I rolled over onto Fenrir's fur, "Oh Alex, don't stop… "

He shook me harder "Shana!" I jolted up, seeing Alex there. He asked me one question. "Were you really just having a wet dream about me?"

I shook my head, "Nope! I was just fucking with your head." He gave me a blank stare, which caused me to reply with "That came out wrong, but make no mistake, I do think you're kinda handsome." I continued "Are we at the ruins?" He nodded as I picked up my swords. "Alright then, let's get moving"

As we headed in, I recalled my conversation with Abyssion and I decided as soon as I got back to Colhen, that I'd speak to Ryn about him. As I pondered about it, Alex stopped me. "Hold up, Shana. Gnolls ahead, how do you wish to proceed? You want me to snipe one of them, or do you wish for me to provide cover fire?" I thought back on what Abyssion told me about me having been trained in the art of unarmed combat, but decided I'd only actively use it for stealth. I motioned for Alex to stay hidden as I threw a rock near my position, catching the attention of one of the Gnolls as it came near the source to investigate.

Alex gave me a look that practically screamed _"What the fuck are you doing?!"_

I looked towards him mouthing the words _"Relax"_ As soon as I could see the gnoll's face, I reached around the corner, grabbed him, pulled him into cover, and then snapped his neck. I noticed the arrowheads Alex used were serrated, which gave me an idea. "Hey Alex? I just had an idea concerning your arrowheads."

Alex gave me an odd look. "Oh? Do tell."

I had a skeptical look on my face, but continued regardless. "How proficient are you in Close Quarters? Because the idea I mentioned, and hear me out on this. If the enemy gets too close to you, do you think you could use the arrow as a knife?"

He thought about it for a second and his eyes lit up. "You know, that's not a bad idea, except for one thing, arrows break easily, but to answer your question, I can deliver a nasty axe kick. So I should be fine, but if worst comes to worst, I might be able to use your plan effectively. Once we get back, I'll have Ferghus craft us some survival knives, I'll ask him to make you a pair, seeing as you have a penchant for using weapons in pairs."

I grinned sweetly, "Go with the 'Cover Fire' option for small groups like these. For larger groups however, snipe a few for me so I won't be completely surrounded."

He nodded as he switched to his longbow. "Will do."

I unsheathed my swords and ran towards the remaining gnolls: one archer and two clubbers. As the archer began to nock its arrow, Alex's arrow found its way through the gnoll's right eye, with at least half of the arrow sticking out of its skull as it stumbled for a couple of seconds and fell over, blood pooling around it. The other two gnolls tried to flee, but I shot two blasts of magic at the gnolls, knocking them against the wall. By the time they got back up, I was upon them as I slammed their skulls against the wall, sending blood on my face and a bit of brain matter on my boots. I thought about how disgusting the brain stuff looked but figured that was the price I paid for crushing skulls against a wall.

As Alex reached me, I noticed the bodies turned to stone. "The fuck? Hey Alex, check this shit out!"

He came closer, seeing what I was looking at. "What's up Shana?" I pointed to the corpses that became stone. "Their corpses, they just turned to stone!"

Alex looked at me for a moment. "Yeah, I noticed that too during my training regimen. When I asked Marrec about it, he said he never bothered to find out why, but that they do make good bashing tools."

Now that he gave me the idea, I hefted the body over my head, and threw it at the log behind us, much to my surprise the log completely shattered! I let out a sharp whistle, "Damn. Those must pack a punch" Before we continued on I decided to take the opportunity to wipe the blood from my face.

I looked over at the gnoll that Alex shot in the eye. "You weren't kidding when you said you were a good shot. I barely heard the arrow whistling past me before you ended that archer."

Alex patted my shoulder, "You're no slouch yourself, a twin swordswoman who can cast wind magic? I look forward to working with you."

I giggled a little bit as I looked to him, "Likewise."

We moved onwards up the stairs and encountered more opposition, this time I decided to show Alex what I was capable of and before he could even nock an arrow, I was in the thick of them all, once they had me surrounded, I could hear Alex shouting to me. "Shana! Get out of there!"

I laughed loudly, causing the gnolls to pause for a moment. "Relax Alex, I got this." I said as I slammed my sword into the ground causing a vortex to pull them in. Then, I balanced on my sword and spun as I swung my other sword slicing most of them in two.

Alex looked at me in wonder. "When did you have the time to develop that attack?"

I gave him a kind smile "I was out of commission for quite some time, I used said time to think of new attacks in my head that also made advantage of my wind. I call that one '_Typhoon Slash'_. You like it?"

He nodded, "Yeah, it looks handy, but it also looks taxing"

I grimaced as I fell down on one knee, breathing heavily. "It… It is, especially when I call my magic so suddenly. That's why I try to build it up during battles gradually, it's hardly tiring at all and once it's built up that way, letting it all out at once doesn't make me this vulnerable."

Once I recovered I took my sword out of the ground. "C'mon Alex, let's get moving, we've lost enough time as is."

We both started sprinting to make up the time we lost, as we ran across a large room with a couple of gnolls, nothing I couldn't handle. As I ran into the group I felt something tap my leg, but thought it was just a rock, and thought nothing of it. I began slicing through the gnolls with ease but as I went on, I noticed something, my movements were getting sluggish. I came to the realization. _That wasn't a rock… I've been poisoned!_ As soon as that realization came to me, I heard my swords clatter on the ground as I heard the gnolls surround me. "Alex!" I called out "I can't move, something must have poisoned me! Got anything that can take care of a group without hitting me?"

I heard him say in a grim voice "No, I don't! I hope that poison wears off, because I'm kinda preoccupied!" I saw them getting closer. _C'mon body, move damn it! Move! _

The gnolls were nearly upon me until I heard a howl, the next thing I knew, I saw Fenrir slicing through them, as he sent their blood flying everywhere. Once the gnolls were dead, Fenrir walked back to me with a gnoll's leg in its mouth as he sat down and started gnawing on it while he was wagging his tail. A few seconds later, the poison wore off. I rewarded Fenrir with a pat on the head. "Good boy!"

I turned to Alex who was just sitting there with a dumbstruck look on his face as Fenrir barked happily. "Alex," I said, as he turned to me "Any clue what poisoned me?"

He pointed to a spider that had turned to stone, "Yeah. It turns out these spiders are poisonous"

I thought back on the event, "Hmm, these foes are organized, if it wasn't for Fenrir, I'd be dead right now. The gnolls _waited _for the poison to kick in before they advanced on me. These spiders, they aren't venomous, it seems. But-"

Alex interrupted me. "Hang on Shana, actually, I don't think it was the spiders that poisoned you" he said as he knelt down next to the spider.

"What do you mean?" I asked him, not too keen on being paralyzed again.

"The spiders of this area don't carry any poison in their fangs, but the gnolls have been known to use poison from time to time. They usually use poisons tailored for paralyzing in order to deal with threats more easily. My assumption is that they saw you as the bigger threat." Alex said as he examined an arrow on the ground that looked like it had its head dipped in some liquid, as he showed it to me, I could easily see my blood on said arrow.

"Are you absolutely sure the gnolls did it? How can we be sure that the gnolls are capable of using such a thing as poison?"I asked him as I knelt down against a wall and ruffled Fenrir's fur as I rested the blunt end of my swords on my shoulder.

"That's simple, Kirstie used to live with the gnolls before they went Fomor, so she's our best source of info on the Gnolls." Alex said.

_So that explains his reasoning._ I thought to myself as I looked at Alex. "I see, c'mon Fenrir, let's get moving" I said as Fenrir and I got up and began walking to the next area.

Once we reached the next area, we encountered some giant worm things that Alex called Hemdrills. Apparently they're creatures that feed on the minerals underground. Along with some gnolls, which we took care of without much trouble. When we finished there, we came to a bridge that was drawn upwards, after a few seconds, we figured to just cut the restraints, and I tossed him one of my blades to do the job, after which he tossed it back to me. I went on ahead while he took care of the archers. By the time he got to me, about a quarter of my tunic was splattered with blood. I decided to take the time to get the blood off of my swords so they wouldn't rust. I didn't feel too comfortable yet trying to channel my wind into my blades, so I decided against it until I felt I was ready to do it.

I looked over my shoulder to Alex, who had his quiver out in front of him. I assumed he was checking how many arrows he had left, and he didn't look too happy. "Something wrong, Alex?"

He glanced into my red eyes. "Yeah, I'm starting to run low on arrows, I'll probably have to aim for the vitals more often."

I smiled at him. "If worst comes to worst, you can always throw the stone corpses at people, it's starting to look like we'll have to follow through on getting Ferghus to craft us some knives."

I thought to myself for a moment and came up with an idea. "Hey Alex," I picked up the quiver of a fallen gnoll archer and placed it down in front of him. "Can you use these arrows? Or if your bow breaks you could always take some of these arrows and use them to stab some people."

Alex looked at me funny. "How are you coming up with all these ideas?" I smiled as he put his quiver back on and gestured for him to walk with me.

"When I was a little girl people would occasionally stop by my village to rest and I would ask them about their travels. Occasionally they would tell me some interesting things. It was merely to sate my curiosity at the time, but now? I think of how I can apply that to situations in battle. For example. Remember when I knocked out Gallagher? I had used my wind to reinforce the punch. That came from a rather interesting bit of info I heard. See, I heard stories of battle mages who could enhance their unarmed capabilities with the elements, this one in particular used his affinity for fire to augment his punches!"

"Well now," Alex said "That is actually pretty smart. I can already tell, you would make a fine leader."

I looked at him "Ya think so? I don't really care for being a leader. By the way, if Gwynn tried to bribe me with the whole 'I can get you in the Royal Army' thing, I'm gonna tell her to fuck off, because I have _no _interest whatsoever in joining them. I mean sure it _sounds _nice. But if all of the army is as stiff as her, then I want no part in- Hold up, I can feel a strong presence" I hadn't realized the lack of opposition until now, and that concerned me. "Alex, do you think it's weird how we haven't met ANY gnolls at all since the bridge? I don't like this, not one bit."

I had a good amount of magic still left in me since I had been gathering it as we talked. I'd wager I could pull off three to four Typhoon Slashes before having to rest again. "Alex, switch to shortbow, and follow me. Fenrir, _follow_." As soon as we turned the corner, all hell broke loose. About 4 brown gnolls and a large white gnoll came out, two archers, one on each side, and opened fire on me specifically.

I instinctively rolled out of the way, just in time to hear Fenrir howl, suddenly, my mind was cleared of all but the fight, noticing what spots seemed the most likely to be vital organs to the gnolls. I dashed forward, going after the small fry first, I had already dealt a decent amount of damage to him before I heard the white one roar at me; I turned to the source and saw him lunge at me. I only had enough time to jump backwards to dodge the attack that narrowly missed my skull. "Shit, that was close. Fenrir! _Assist Alex!"_ The wolf barked in acknowledgement and went to assist Alex, who was having a hard time dealing with a clubber while also dodging arrows.

The white gnoll and I fought for quite some time, with neither side seeming to keep an advantage for long. "This is… really… starting to… annoy me!" I said in between breaths as I noticed my swords were on the verge of breaking. _Fuck_ "Hey Alex, a little help here?!"

I heard him call out to me, "I've been helping you! I'm out of arrows!" After I dodged another attack, I noticed that there were quite a few arrows sticking out of the gnoll's body and had an idea. I tossed the sword in my left hand away, and gave the gnoll a gesture equivalent to '_bring it_'. Thankfully, he took the bait and lunged at me, I jumped over him and kicked him in the back of the head, sending him into pillar which collapsed on top of him.

"Is… Is he dead…?" I said, falling on my ass as Fenrir stumbled to me, blood clotting his fur.

Alex walked over to me. "I think we won… " I let out a sigh of relief, as I could practically _hear _my heart beating in my ears.

I picked up the sword I tossed away, to see that it was broken "Ugh, broken _again_?! I swear Morrighan just _loves_ to torture me."

Alex staggered next to me, "Yep." He deadpanned, which caused me to smack him upside the head.

I looked at him, "You aren't helping, let's just get back to the fucking outpost, okay?"

Once we made it back to the outpost, Aodhan got back, and explained that the ruins were off limits to us. "Um, captain, I wish you told us this BEFORE we just went to the ruins?" I pointed out.

Marrec looked at me, "On whose authority?"

I responded with "Gwynn's"

At this point, Marrec flew into a rage telling me about how we don't just do whatever the Royal Army commands, I let him vent, but then he accused me of wanting to join the Royal Army, I began walking closer to him, getting ready to give him a reinforced punch. "Marrec, I suggest you stop now."

He wasn't listening to me. "If you're just going to use us as a stepping stone to join those Royal dogs, then get the hell out!" I looked at him, with tears in my eyes. "Are you finished Marrec?! Then allow me to tell you something" I said as I delivered a solid right hook to him.

"So that's how you really feel huh? You think I'd just shit all over your standards, just so I could get into the Royal Army?!" I felt my eyes changing again "I don't know about you Marrec. But I don't believe in riding on others coattails. I believe in carrying **my own** weight. So don't you **dare** accuse me of trying to get in the Army without WORKING FOR IT!" I punctuated the last part by punching a hole clean through the spot next to Marrec's helmet." I was hyperventilating at this point. I turned around and left, letting my long black hair that was stained with blood be the last thing that he saw of me before I left his field of vision.

I saw Ryn sitting down near the Inn and decided to talk to her. "Ryn? I have a serious question to ask you." Finally allowing my wind to die down.

She responded "Shoot,"

I said only three words. "Who is Abyssion?" Ryn's purple eyes showed shock as they widened.

Her next sentence was firm, but deadly. "How do you know that name?"

I sighed deeply "I… I had a dream of my past, I was watching a fight between my past self, and something called the Succubus. When my mind was clouded, an orb of darkness spoke to me and cleared my mind. We spoke for a while, and when I asked his name, he said it was Abyssion. What do you know about him?"

Ryn didn't say anything for a few seconds and said "I don't know anything about hi-"

I snapped at her "Don't you fucking lie to my face! He said if I wanted to learn more about his kind to ask you! Now answer me! I've been having these dreams for some time and I **will not** be denied anymore!"

Ryn sighed deeply "I really shouldn't be telling you this. If you truly wish to know about us, then speak with Nyle. He is the hooded one in Brynn's lab. He will have your answers." Fenrir looked at me and started whining.

I scratched him behind the ears and reassured him I was fine "I'll be okay boy, for now, go and see Tieve." The wolf went into the Inn as I ordered. Once he was out of my sight I headed over to Brynn's lab.

I knocked lightly on the door, "It's open," Brynn said as I walked in. "Ah, Shana, how are you doing?"

My slitted eyes had not returned to their normal state, and I said in a firm voice "Where is Nyle? I need to speak with him about something important."

The hooded man spoke in a gruff voice "What is it you wish to speak about?"

I gave him my answer. "The one you call Abyssion, what is he?"

Nyle looked at me with a grim look. "So, he has finally chosen a vessel. Shana, what I am about to tell you is ancient history, not recorded in most books. Tell me, are you familiar with the concept of souls?"

I nodded, "For the most part, they're our conscience in a given form, correct?"

He nodded, "Yes, if I were to extract your soul right now, all that would remain would be a hollow husk."

I grimaced as I had the mental image "Thanks for that mental image… "

He smiled "You're welcome. Now then, there is something you should know. Every member of the Silent Brotherhood makes a pact. Through this pact, the member is granted a separate, sentient soul that gave their life for the Goddess. Each one of these are immensely powerful and choose their vessel. However, there are some cases where a soul will contact the vessel even if they have not made the pact yet. Abyssion is the first Dark Knight, and he is also the most powerful. How do you know of his name?"

I explained the dream I had on the way to the ruins. When I was finished Nyle nodded towards me. "I see, chances are Abyssion will contact you very soon. I should warn you though, he is a bit… different from most of the souls."

I nodded as I left and headed to the Inn.

As I started to lie down on my bed I could hear a faint voice. _**"Hello? Is this thing on? Testing…" **_

I called out mentally _"Abyssion, is that you?"_

I was rewarded with a clear voice _**"Ugh, finally! I was hoping your memory seal would weaken enough so we could talk! What do ya wanna talk about?"**_

I thought for a moment. "_Are there others like us? And are you truly the first Dark Knight?" _

I could hear him chuckling _**"Did Nyle tell you that? Well he's right. And to answer your question, there are others like us. In fact, you've met one of them, but she's a Paladin. Which is more or less the opposite of a Dark Knight. Also, it seems like your true self is starting to awaken." **_

This intrigued me. _"My true self? What do you mean?__**" **_

I heard Abyssion sigh _**"For the love of Morrighan, do I have to spell it out for you? Look in the mirror." **_

I did as such and noticed that my eyes were still slitted. But I was completely calm! _"What's happening to me Abyssion?"_

I sat down on the bed again trying to process this new revelation. _**"Whoa! Calm down Shana! Look, you're going to be fine, okay? You need to calm down, it just means the seal is weakening. It also seems like you're becoming better at using your wind magic."**_

I thought about something for a moment. _"Umm, Abyssion? Will you be able to help me fight in battle? I mean Alex is a nice guy, but I can't rely on him having my back forever…"_

I practically _feel_ his brow furrowing. _**"Hmm, I might be able to give you tactical feedback, or tips on how to find the right guy! Or girl, if that's your preference." **_

I groaned _"Dammit Abyssion I'm serious! If you wanna get in my pants can you save it for when I'm dreaming?"_ Abyssion was silent for about a minute _"Hey Abyssion, you still there?"_

He finally responded _**"Yeah, I'm just kinda shocked you said that" **_

I gave him a mental stare _"Hey, I haven't had some sex for like 3 fuckin' years man."_

This caused Abyssion to start laughing his disembodied ass off. _**"Ok, fair enough, but yeah, I could help you focus your wind magic better if you're so inclined. As you get stronger I'll be able to help you more. Take Ryn for example, the Paladin I mentioned. She can take the form of the paladin when she wants to, but there is a serious drawback to this. She can safely hold it for two minutes, any longer and you're risking serious damage to your body and soul." **_

I thought about what he just told me. _"Can I take the form of the Dark Knight?" _

There was a few seconds of silence. _**"Yeah, sure you can!"**_

I jumped up. _"Really?! I can, right now?!" _

Abyssion's reply was _**"Pfft! Fuck no! At least not yet, I wouldn't let you try to do that right now even if you wanted to. The sheer stress from trying to transform would destroy your soul. Trust me Shana. You aren't going to be transforming for a while**__.__** Look, don't stress it. It'll come to you naturally, I am capable of taking full control if you're out of it. Allow me to demonstrate." **_

The next thing I knew I felt my body moving on its own, it felt… weird, as my body picked up one of my swords and channeled my wind through it. After a while, he let the wind die down, and set the sword next to my bed, where it rested before he took over.

_**"Again, like I said, I don't like to take full control if I don't have to. I'll usually save that for when you're out cold. The most I'll do usually is just take control of your body. I'll leave your mind alone usually. Anyways, you should probably get washed up before you head off to bed. I'll try to help accelerate the rate of healing for your wounds."**_

I decided that Abyssion was right about getting washed up. I headed out and grabbed a spare set of clothes. I finally found a discreet spot where I could bathe and started taking my clothes off. When I was topless, Abyssion contacted me.

_**"Hey Shana, I think I sense someone approaching us, oh and by the way, that's a sweet rack you got there. But yeah, you might want to get your magic ready."**_

I replied _"Will do. Thanks Abyssion, for warning me and complimenting my assets."_ I shot a blast of wind at the spot where the figure was hiding.

"Shit! Shana, easy it's me!" The man I punched earlier today rolled out.

"Sorry, Gallagher. Why are you following me?"

I dispelled my magic while I hid my tits from view. Gallagher spoke up again. "I was actually gonna try to calm you down after that shit with Marrec. You seemed pretty upset."

I looked at him skeptically "You'll have to forgive my skepticism of your hospitality due to the events of this morning."

I was about to continue but Abyssion took control of my body for a moment. **"She's got a point bro, you were kind of a dick. You totally deserved that punch she gave you."**

I covered my mouth "Goddess dammit Abyssion shut up! You are not helping!"

Gallagher was slack jawed. "Wait, you're a dark knight? But that's impossible! You never went through the trials!" I continued undressing with my back turned to him as he continued. "Why are you undressing?"

I looked over my shoulder at him, "I actually came down here to bathe because I didn't want to go to sleep with blood in my hair, it tends to stick and make it rough, but if you must know, Abyssion, that's my Dark Soul, contacted me when I was sleeping earlier. Before I woke up, he told me to speak to Ryn, who directed me to Nyle because she couldn't speak of the Silent Brotherhood. While Abyssion might come off as annoying sometimes, I know he means well. But back to why you're here, what were you saying? Something about calming me down? Also, can you please stop staring at my ass?"

Gallagher nodded "Yeah, see, Marrec is jealous of the Royal Army because both he and Keaghan tried to get into the Royal Army, while Marrec didn't make the cut, Keaghan did."

I replied without looking over my shoulder as I took the bucket and washed out my hair. "Ahh… that feels so much better… So what you're saying is that Marrec was being a little bitch because I was succeeding where he didn't?"

"Pretty much" was the response Gallagher gave me.

I sighed deeply "Gallagher? What does the term mercenary mean here in Colhen?"

He thought about it for a moment. "I guess you could say we're a poor man's military, why do you ask?"

I had finished cleaning my body and ducked underwater and came back up again just to be thorough. "No particular reason." I said as I put my clothes back on. As I walked by Gallagher I decided to give him a hug, "Thanks for checking up on me, and sorry for knocking you out earlier. I just hate people who act like they own the place."

As I started walking back to the Inn I felt like talking to Abyssion. _"Hey Abyssion? You feel like talking for a bit?"_

_**"Sure, what's on your mind?"**_ He said.

_"Just all the info I've discovered today, like the fact that an Ancient Soul was lying dormant in my body and that there is a rather high possibility that I'm not completely human. But Abyssion, I was wondering, is it common for a combination like you and me?" _

_**"I'm not sure I follow what you're getting at." **_He said with confusion in his voice.

_"I mean is it common for the two souls to be different genders? Take you and me for example, you're essentially a man's soul in a woman's body."_

_**"Oh. That's what you mean? I'm sure it's happened every so often. Regardless, I'm surprised how calmly you handled that, I honestly thought that you were gonna blast him for peeking." **_

I was silent for a few seconds and replied _"I'm really glad you talked me into heading to that river to bathe. I feel so much better now." _

_**"I'm glad too, I got to see how my vessel looked nude." **_

I felt myself blushing _"Abyssion! Try to keep it in your pants!" _

Abyssion took this opportunity to be a smartass and deadpanned. _**"Wait, I have pants? But seriously, all jokes aside, you seem to be a nice vessel." **_

Suddenly, a new question came to mind. _**"**__Abyssion, are you capable of affecting my dreams? I don't mean regaining my memory specifically, but just in general." _

_**"Yeah, why?" **_

I currently had unspeakable thoughts swirling through my head as I blushed. _"Oh, no particular reason. I was just curious." _We had finally reached the Inn, and I was out like a light as soon as my head hit the pillow, with Fenrir sleeping at the foot of my bed.

**A/N: Good Goddess! I've been working on this bitch for three hours straight! Also, Can we get some more reviews in here, I appreciate constructive criticism! –Lunar**


	7. Survival in the Ruins

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Vindictus. Vindictus belongs to Nexon. I only own the rights to Shana, Abyssion, and Alex. Thank you and have a nice day

Same shit as before, if you read the previous chapters, you know what the varying text types represent (Bold, italics, etc.)

Remember, anything with " and _italics _means thoughts. I.e. The vast majority of times Shana speaks with Abyssion._ "Hey Abyssion" _This is mental speech, usually a Vessel and their Soul speaking. (Shana and Abyssion respectively in this case)

Also, I should point this out, when Abyssion speaks through Shana's body, it more or less sounds like Shana, but with a different 'feel' to it. Think of the Death Knights from World of Warcraft (btw I don't own that, Blizzard owns WoW)

**-Shana's Mind-**

"_**Shana, wake up."**__ I could hear Abyssion but I was so comfy… so I didn't respond. That is, until he took drastic measures. Which consisted of assaulting my mind with unspeakable things. Namely Erica, The Succubus, pleasuring me in ways I never thought possible._

"_Ahn! St-Stop it Abyssion! I'm Aw-Ah! Awake!" I jolted up as I blushed furiously. I was about to bitch at him but noticed that the area I was in looked nothing at all like the Inn "Where are we? This obviously isn't the Inn."_

"_**That's what I wanted to talk to you about. I figured that while you were recovering from your battle wounds, I could train you while you sleep. While in most cases a human doesn't remember their dreams. I can ensure that you do remember them, thus, allowing you to become more experienced even when you aren't actually fighting!"**__ He said with a sense of pride in his voice_

"_Hard to see how I can gain experience from fighting a floating orb of darkness." I deadpanned._

"_**Oh right, I forgot about that, gimme a sec. You might wanna step back."**__ I watched in curiosity as Abyssion took a shape that looked like a real human, he was a little bit taller than me, his black hair falling past his shoulders, as a black trench coat materialized on him, when he opened his eyes, I saw his eyes were red, like mine. _

_The last thing to materialize were two serrated swords that stuck into the ground. Once that was finished he rolled his shoulders and craned his neck, which was rewarded with a lot of audible pops. __**"Ugh… damn it's been WAY too long since I took my old form." **__He noticed that I was staring at him for a while. __**"What? Is there something on my face?**__"_

_I shook my head. "No, it's just… your eyes, they're the same as mine. I've never seen anyone else with the same eyes as me."_

_He looked at me funny__** "Yeah, that's the thing when we souls take a physical form in our vessel's minds. We usually retain some aspect of our Vessel's appearance. In your case, it's your eyes." **__I was still staring at him. __**"Uh, Shana? You can stop fantasizing about me now."**_

_I shook the images out of my head and asked him a question. "How are you able to do this?" I gestured around me. "I mean, I'm all for training, don't get me wrong, but won't I need my strength for when I actually do fight if I train here with you all night?"_

_Abyssion chuckled lightly at my question __**"If we go without breaks, then yeah, you would be about as effective as a shit-faced priest on the battlefield. But we're aren't going to train you physically yet."**_

_I looked at him, "What do you mean we're not training right now? Isn't that the whole reason you woke me up?"_

_He corrected me __**"I said physically, if you fought me right now I'd probably kill you, I need some time to get used to my body again. As for you, I want you to test a theory I thought of. See, I was thinking that if you constantly circulated your wind throughout your body, that within a few weeks' time, your ability to use your magic would increase a metric fuckton. It will more than likely hurt at first, but getting the flow started is the hardest part. I don't know how well I can teach you in your sword style, seeing as not many people have the idea to use one of their blades in a reverse stance. But I can give you tips on how to improve your style. Who knows? Maybe you'll remember one of your old moves!"**_

_After I took in this new information I thought about his theory, which, if I proved his theory correct, could really help me in a fight if I get disarmed. I spoke up, "Alright then, I'll try out your theory, it could come in handy if I get disarmed." Then, a thought crossed my mind. "Hey Abyss?"_

"_**Sup?" **__He said as he looked at me after he stopped swinging his sword and began leaning on it._

"_I was wondering, can Dark Souls talk with Holy Souls? Like, for example, if you were so inclined, could you talk with Ryn's Holy Soul?"_

"_**Yeah, why do you ask?" **__He said as he looked at me curiously._

"_Oh, no particular reason. I was just curious." I said as I sat down to train my mind again. I did as Abyssion instructed me, and focused on channeling my wind throughout my body. "Tch, you were right, getting it started does hurt like a bitch!"_

_It felt like someone was trying to rip off my limbs for the first minute or so, but eventually, the pain started to die down, as I focused on my task, I thought of ways I could use this magic more efficiently in close quarters. _

_I thought of certain ways, many involved using my wind to flow from enemy to enemy in unarmed combat, but one technique stood out amongst the others that revolved around using my blades defensively and decided Abyssion was in for a nasty surprise. "Yo! Abyss! I wanna try out a new move I just thought up, can you throw a fireball at me?"_

"_**Are you insane?! Hell no!" **__Noting his actual concern._

"_Oh stop being a bitch and help me test this." I said as I saw his eyebrow twitch._

"_**Oh ho, it's on now!" **__As he threw the fireball at me, I took up my crouched stance I took when I fought the spider at the tower, which I decided to call 'Cross Stance'. Once the Fireball was about 3 feet away, I jumped back and swung my swords outward as it made a swirling shield of wind that reflected the fireball right back at Abyssion._

"_**Wait is that... OH SHIT SHE REFLECTED IT! FUCK FUCK FUUUUCK!" **__He said as he ran like hell at the result of my new attack, he managed to dodge it by rolling to the side, but it was still hilarious._

_I started laughing my ass off. "That's payback for the dirty images you used to wake me up ya prick!"_

"_**All humor aside, that's a pretty nasty attack you've got there. Not only did you reflect it, but you doubled the speed and somehow increased the power behind it. Does that attack have a name? I'll admit, that I was not expecting a backlash of that magnitude."**_

"_Backlash huh? I like the sound of that, yeah… That's what we'll call it" I giggled lightly as I got up. But I collapsed on my back. Warranting a bit of concern from Abyssion._

"_**Hey, Shana! Are you alright? Speak to me!" **__I opened my eyes and saw him looking at me with a smile. __**"Easy there kiddo, you had me worried. What just happened?" **__I released my mental hold on my wind as it visibly dispersed from my body._

_I coughed weakly. "Sorry about that, I was still channeling the wind in my body, I kind of dozed off in mid channel and I guess I subconsciously kept it up as I thought of numerous battle tactics." I looked away from him, letting my hair shield my eyes from his view._

"_**Shana, what's on your mind?" **__He asked me, I could tell that he could sense the inner turmoil in my soul. But decided to try to throw him off my trail._

"_It's nothing important, I wanted to ask you if you were aware of what was going on around me when I thought you were dormant."_

"_**That's not all, is it? You're still worried about just how human you really are, aren't you?"**__ He said._

_I looked at him with complete and utter shock. "How did you-?" _

_He put a finger to my lips to silence me. __**"Did you forget? I'm your Dark Soul, but more importantly, I'm your friend, it's kind of my job to know what's eating at you, or did the job description for 'Friend' change over the past few generations? If there is one thing that Dark and Holy Souls specialize in, it's being able to sense when our Vessel is unsure of their self."**_

_I looked at him with tears brimming in my eyes "Thanks Abyssion. It's glad to see I got someone to keep my ass in line."_

"_**And what a fine ass it is."**__ Abyssion sniped, slapping it for good measure._

"_Hey!" I laughed as I continued "I don't mind if you're constantly staring at it outside of battle, but on the battlefield, can I trust you to watch my back and give me feedback?"_

"_**Sure you can, we're bonded now, if you start to slip up, I'll try to assist you by pointing out where you're messing up and how to correct it. If I see you just aren't getting it, I'll take control of your body, and let you watch as I show you how to properly use your body." **__He reassured me. As I got back up and started swinging my swords away from him._

"_But hang on a sec, I thought you said my body couldn't handle the strain?" I stated, remembering what he had said._

"_**You're thinking of taking the form of the Dark Knight, I'm talking about merely possessing your body. Possession is not an otherworldly magic by any means. Do you remember when I started channeling an orb of wind at the tip of your blade last night when we first talked outside your dreams?"**_

_I nodded "Yeah, it felt weird, but not entirely unpleasant."_

"_**What you felt that night was essentially the same thing, with my mental power I could easily overpower your body, which I'm pretty sure you wouldn't like. Unless you're into that kind of thing, being dominated I mean."**_

_I blushed deeply "Abyssion… Stop it! You're making me blush!" Once he stopped, I continued. "Are we ready to do some physical training?"_

"_**Almost, I need to use something much weaker, if I used my swords, yours would break in the blink of an eye"**__ He said as he materialized twin swords identical to mine. He examined his new, weaker swords. __**"Yeah, this will work. Alright Shana, I suppose we can get started." **_

_Before I could respond, I could hear a far off voice. "Shana? Are you in there?" It sounded like Tieve. She was pretty persistent. _

_Abyssion groaned __**"Aww man… just when it was getting good. Looks like our training is over for now. We'll train some more the next time you get messed up, but don't worry. We can talk freely now in your mind."**_

_I nodded. "Alright then Abyss." I said as light began filling my vision once more._

**-Back to Reality-**

I yawned loudly as I finally woke up, feeling refreshed despite what I just experienced in my mind. "Tieve, it's open. What do you need?" I said, still visibly pissed from yesterday's events.

"What's wrong? She asked as she looked at me with a concerned expression.

"It's nothing." I said with a straight face.

"You're a terrible liar, you know that Shana?" she said with a disapproving look on her face.

"I'll say this much, Marrec knows not to accuse me of wanting to use the Blades as a stepping stone to join the Royal Army." I said with venom in my voice.

I saw Tieve facepalming "For the love of Morrighan… Look, I can explain… "

"Don't bother, Gallagher explained it for me. I already know about Marrec's petty hatred for the Royal Army."

Tieve handed me a letter and a stone. "That stone is used to make your weapons and armor last longer and not be such a burden to carry."

"And the letter? I hope it's nothing scandalous." Tieve giggled at my remark.

"Nothing like that, I'd like you to take it to Brynn. I'd do it myself, but I'm kind of swamped at the moment."

I looked at the letter as I heard Fenrir following me, "You wanna come too, don't you boy?"

"Woof!" Was the response I got as I walked out of the Inn.

Once we reached Brynn's Lab I looked at Fenrir, "Go back to the Inn and play with Tieve." When I saw no complaint, I walked in to see Brynn busying himself with some beakers.

"Ah, hello Shana, what brings you to my lab this time?" I handed him the letter Tieve asked me to deliver. "I see, apparently Tieve wants me to make you some red tea to help you calm down. I really don't have time for this but... "

I interrupted "If it's too much trouble, I can go."

Brynn reassured me "No it's fine, I can tell you need this."

After a while he handed me the cup of tea. Much to my surprise it was really good! "Damn Brynn, you were right. I did need this!" Once I handed it back to him he placed it where it used to be.

"Hey Brynn, you have anything that needs doing? Like restocking on materials or anything?" I asked him as I was about to walk out the door.

"Yes actually. I have two things for you to obtain for me the next time you're out around the Perilous Ruins. The first thing I need is the heart of a wisp. The second thing I require is for you to find three ruins erg crystals."

"Erg crystals? Are those the crystallized diamond things I find occasionally when I'm out in the field?" I said as I held one out in front of him, this one had a yellow hue to it.

"Yes, in fact, that's what a ruins erg crystal looks like. So we'll need two more of those. I'd explain what they are, but I assume you have better things to do than listen to me rabble." I nodded as such.

"Yeah, I'm gonna go check up on Tieve, see ya later!" I said as I walked out and decided to head back to the Inn.

Once I got back to the Inn, I saw Tieve scratching Fenrir behind the ears. "Having fun Tieve?"

"Oh be quiet. Anyways, did Brynn cheer you up?" she asked me as she finished playing with Fenrir.

I nodded. "Yeah, for an anti-social magician he makes a _mean_ tea." I was about to continue talking with her but I was interrupted by what sounded like a battle horn. I sighed "Looks like it's time to go… I'll more than likely see you later Tieve, with a few more bruises."

Tieve looked at me with a worried look on her face "Be careful, okay?"

I looked over my shoulder at her, "I will." I looked over to Fenrir, who propped his ears up "C'mon boy, we're leaving." Once I heard him behind me, we walked to the outpost. Once we entered, I saw Aodhan in full gear while the others were getting ready for battle as he barked out orders. "Ryn! Take a platoon over to the Western Ruins! Nolan! Watch the entrance for Ryn and be ready."

Aodhan looked around, "Marrec! Is Marrec here yet?"

I heard Marrec behind me and moved out of the way. "Yes sir! I just got here!"

What Aodhan said next was with concern. "I think the Royal Army is marching to the Perilous Ruins. Take two platoons and investigate!"

"Yes sir!" Marrec said as he awaited further orders.

Aodhan continued giving out orders. "Ceara, stay here at the Mercenary Outpost and notify me of any new info we receive."

"Yes, captain!" The redhead said as she started pouring over the information we had thus far.

Finally the captain's gaze rested on me. "Excellent, Shana's here."

"I've been here for a while, captain." I said as I gave Marrec a death glare.

The captain continued, noting my death glare. "I have an assignment for you, Shana."

"I'm listening." I said as I finally stopped glaring at Marrec.

Aodhan continued. "I hope you can run fast because you're going to need it. I need you to scout out the Perilous Ruins. It is **essential** that you get there before anyone else. If the gnolls see the Royal Army as an enemy, it will trigger a full-scale battle. Understand?"

I nodded, "Yeah, if the Army attacks them first, then the shit is gonna hit the fan, right?"

Aodhan grimly nodded. "Not how I would have put it, but yes."

Marrec called me over "Hey rookie," My eye twitched in annoyance of that title, but I let him continue. "Come here for a second before you head out…" he tossed me a pair of pants, "Look, I'm sorry abo- "

I stopped him "Don't bother, it's gonna take a lot more than a 'sorry' for me to forgive you and your petty jealousy. But I'll be careful regardless."

As I was walking off I could hear Gallagher saying "Marrec, you hurt her bad. It's gonna take her a while before she even wants to _speak _to you dude." I walked around the back so I could try on the new pants, much to my surprise, they looked, and felt good! I decided to walk back to the inn.

As I walked back to the inn I saw a mountain of a man petting Fenrir. "I see Fenrir has taken a shine to you."

The man turned around "Are you his owner?" I nodded "You must be the new girl, Shana, if I recall."

"Yes, that would be me. Are you heading out to the ruins as well?" the man nodded as he picked up a giant log.

"That I am, Aodhan told me that my partner was a woman with red slitted eyes and used two swords. You're the only one here that matches that description, so I guess we're stuck for now." The man said as I got a better look at him. He was about 6'5, had white skin, and he had HUGE muscles to boot.

"_**I've heard of walking tanks, but this is just ridiculous!" **_I heard Abyssion say in my mind.

"_I know right? Seriously, He makes the gnoll I fought yesterday look like a fuckin' chump!"_ I looked at the log he had next to him. "Is that your weapon?" The man nodded, "If you ever decide to chuck that thing, warn me ahead of time, okay?"

The man chuckled as he held out his free hand, "I'll be sure to let you know. I'm Lance, by the way."

I took his hand and shook it "And you already know who I am clearly. Not to mention you've met my pet wolf, Fenrir."

He looked at me weird, "It's quite rare for someone to have a pet wolf. Is he tame?"

"Who, Fenrir? We've been through hell and back." I said as I ruffled his fur when he came to me. "Trust me. You couldn't ask for a better guardian, why, just the other day I had gotten hit with some paralyzing poison, I would've been dead if it wasn't for Fenrir. Bastard has a small sense of humor too! When he came back to me after making mincemeat out of those gnolls, he comes back with a gnoll's leg in his mouth and begins gnawing on it like nothing happened!"

This caused Lance to laugh heartily "I like him already! Trust me, now that I'm here, those gnolls don't stand a chance!"

_I hope you're right Lance… _I thought to myself

"_**What's wrong?"**_Abyssion asked me.

"_This Lance fellow, he talks a fair game, but can he back it up? Oh, hang on." _

I saw Lance waving his hand in front of my face. "Shana? Hello?"

I shook my head and looked at him "Yes Lance?" Wondering what he wanted to talk about.

"You zoned out for a second. What's up with that?" He looked concerned. "That's not gonna be an issue during the fight, is it?"

I shook my head lightly, "Nope, I was just thinking about stuff. Also, have you seen Alex? He's an archer? Brown hair, about the same height as me?"

Lance rubbed his chin for a moment. "Alex… Alex… Oh! He left with Ryn and Nolan a while ago."

I looked a little disappointed. "Damn. Ah well, this will give me an opportunity to see how much my wind magic has grown." I said as I made my hair to billow out behind me. Then I remembered the Combat Knife I wanted Ferghus to craft me. "I'll be right back Lance, I need to check on something." I turned in the direction of the Forge and decided to talk to Ferghus. "Yo! Ferghus!" I shouted over the forge. I crinkled my nose as I realized something: I _HATE_ places that don't have clean air.

Ferghus stopped working on the blade for a moment and saw the raven-haired woman approaching him. "Ah Shana! You here for your Combat Knife?"

I nodded "Is it finished yet?"

"Yeah, just about, wanna see for yourself?" Ferghus said as he motioned for me to come closer.

As I looked at the blade, my eyes glistened as I said and thought only one word: "Damn, Ferghus."

Abyssion basically said the same thing in my mind, _**"Took the words right outta my mouth."**_

The knife _looked_ like a run of the mill survival knife, but something inside me told me not to be deceived by its simple design and serrated blade. Both the blade and the grip were black, and from an estimate, I'd say the overall length was about eight and a half inches.

I was about to check my coin purse, but Ferghus stopped me. "Don't bother, Alex already covered the cost."

Ferghus placed the knife in the sheath and handed it to me, "I've made it with some better materials than what your swords are made of, but that doesn't mean that it won't break. Oh right! That reminds me, Ryn wanted me to hand you these." Ferghus said as he tossed me a new pair of swords that had a single, serrated edge, with a gem in the center of the hilt.

As I examined the swords I realized something was off about these. "Ferghus, you didn't make these blades, did you?"

He simply shook his head. "Nope! Ryn made them herself, from what I've heard, she tends to handle the creation of weapons for the guild members. It's not often she makes weapons for people she just met, so count yourself lucky!"

As I examined my new knife I looked at Ferghus. "So, do these swords have a name?"

He stopped hammering for a moment. "I think Ryn called them the Skyfrost Twin Swords, from what she told me, they should be useful for quite some time. Anyways, I need to get started on my next request, so maybe I'll see you later!" Ferghus said as I left the forge.

Once I was out in the open again, I breathed deeply, inhaling the fresh air. "Damn, I never noticed how much I love fresh air. Note to self, try to make trips to the forge as short as possible."

I could hear Lance laughing a little bit. "Ha! Looks like you had quite an order for Ferghus!"

I looked at Lance "Hmm? What do you-" I then realized my hands were full with my knife and new swords. "Oh, that. See, I got annoyed with having to carry spears with me when I go out to battle because it's cumbersome and not my style, not to mention that the spears are meant for throwing. So yesterday I asked Alex to see if Ferghus could make us some survival knives. Let's just say that Ferghus delivered." I said as I hooked my new knife on my right thigh and I fastened my sheaths on my back in the form of an X.

Lance eyed me critically, "Hmm… That look suits you. I should probably see if I can get a new weapon after this battle. I think I look a bit goofy swinging a log around."

I giggled audibly. "You really do. I think I'll keep my knife as my secondary, much easier to draw quickly too." I said as I drew my knife very quickly. "Hmm, this thing is lighter than it looks… " I said as I examined the weight a bit more.

"Anyways, let's get moving." Lance said grimly.

I whistled for Fenrir as Lance and I rushed to Matt at the docks. "Matt! We need to get to the ruins, double time!" I said as Lance and I hopped on the boat.

"What's going o-" He said before I interrupted him.

"Don't ask questions, just GO! If we don't move then there _will_ be all-out war!" I said to him with sheer sincerity in my voice as I looked at Matt.

Matt nodded as we shoved off. "Alright, why the urgency? I've never seen you so serious."

After I took a deep breath, I looked at Matt with no sense of sarcasm in my voice. "Long story short, I did a mission for Gwynn that more or less riled up the Gnolls, if the gnolls perceive the Royals as foes… We're in deep shit."

Both Lance and Matt asked me at the same time "How deep we talking?"

I sighed deeply as I said the next words in a deathly calm voice, "All-out war between the gnolls and humans."

Lance rubbed his chin and deadpanned. "That's some pretty deep shit."

As I unsheathed my knife and began examining the blade, I continued. "Yeah, I feel responsible for it too, and I've no doubt that Alex feels responsible as well. After all, we were the ones who carried out the mission." I slammed my knife into the wood I was sitting on. "**Dammit!** I knew I shouldn't have taken that mission!"

Lance patted me on the shoulder. "Easy Shana, you couldn't have known the repercussions of the mission."

My wind started flaring up again but I pulled back my anger "I… I suppose you're right. But still, it hurts to watch, knowing that this is my own doing." I said as I put my knife back in its sheath as I closed my eyes to rest a little.

I decided to take the time to talk with Abyssion. _"Hey Abyss? What were you trying to tell me earlier right before I woke up?"_

Abyssion was silent for a moment, but then he responded _**"Well, I was gonna give you some physical training, but we got interrupted. The first thing I was gonna talk to you about was how I've noticed that your ability to dodge requires some SERIOUS work. I actually have an idea of how I can teach you better, without having to strain your body.**_

I mentally huffed _"Oh really? You figured out a way to make training easier and quicker without me having to actually be asleep? And there is nothing wrong with my ability to dodge."_

Abyssion laughed _**"Actually, there's plenty wrong with your ability to dodge. It might not seem to be as bad as I make it sound right now, but trust me. In a real fight? As your dodging skills are now? You'd be dead in seconds. I'd recommend trying to dodge by sliding. When someone rolls, you can tell what way they're going to go by watching their legs, you can do the same to find out which way you're sliding, but you gotta be able to process information really fast."**_

"_And just how do you propose I dodge in this fashion? Last time I checked, I need to have some speed in order to slide. And even then, I'll be vulnerable while I'm lying down until I get up. So, the way I see it I'll be even more vulnerable if I slide!" _I said as I was thinking of ways to improve my dodging when an idea came to me. "_Wait! What if I use my wind to propel me in the direction I wanna dodge in? That way, I can do it on a dime, stay on my feet, and really cut down on the time I'm vulnerable!"_

I could hear Abyssion snap his fingers _**"Bingo. Looks like you figured it out."**_ He said as he planted the image in my head of me using my wind to propel me in the direction I wanted to dodge an attack, while still maintaining my combat stance. _**"It might be a little taxing at first, but I'm sure that with time it won't be nearly as tiring. Also, I wouldn't try to use that backlash attack until you're more familiar with using your wind, the reason you were able to pull it off while you were sleeping, is because you're slightly stronger in your dream realm, as opposed to reality. So I'd say you still got a couple battles to go before you can use backlash comfortably. But you can use the Storm Step as you are now. Yes, that's what we're calling it. End of discussion."**_

"_Hang on a sec Abyss, how come I can use the Storm Step, but not the backlash? Not to mention when I fought the spider, I did some type of attack, like I was unleashing all of the rage I had accumulated from fighting the spider all at once. The aforementioned technique that I used was also done from my Cross Stance. So why can't I do that now?" _I asked him, half expecting a smartass response_._

"_**The best way I can put it is that your mind doesn't KNOW how to do it properly, your body does, but your mind doesn't. If I took control, I could probably pull it off, but I don't know for sure, and even then. I only take over when I need to, or if I just feel like talking through your body. Take Gallagher for instance, I revealed myself to him because he houses a Dark Soul. Still, I was shocked how sexy my voice sounded when it came from your body."**_

"_So what you're saying is that my body can do it because of muscle memory, but my mind doesn't have the same luxury due to it being sealed?" _I asked him curiously.

"_**That's exactly what I'm saying." **_He said as I could hear things in the real world.

"_Fuck me… " _I mentally said to myself as I opened my eyes to see the ruins up ahead.

I unconsciously petted Fenrir, a habit I took up whenever I got bored or nervous, this time it was more of the latter. "Lance, I think we might be too late. I can smell blood."

Lance looked at me with a weird look. "You must have a better sense of smell than me, because I can't smell it."

When the ship docked, Lance and I leapt off of the ship and started hauling ass into the ruins as the scent of blood got stronger. As we proceeded, we found a good number of bodies, both gnoll, and human alike. I took point, having a hunch that the scent of blood would lead me to our destination. As we came to a fork, we paused for a second as Lance thought for a bit. "Shana, any idea which way we should choose?"

I sniffed the air for a moment, letting the scent of human blood lead me to the right. "I think we should go this way. I know this sounds creepy, but I can _smell _their blood, and… it's _fresh_." I said to Lance as we started picking up the pace. As we moved on we came across more human bodies, as we were about to move to the next area, I heard shallow breathing behind me.

I spun around with my knife in hand, to the sight of one of the humans bleeding heavily and he begged for help. I called out "Lance! One of them is still alive!" I turned to the wounded man as I sheathed my knife. "What happened here?!"

The man spoke in shallow breaths "They… they ambushed us, most of us were caught by arrows, others… got crushed by rolling… pillar chunks. About half of our forces are left, not nearly... " He was interrupted when he coughed up a good amount of blood.

Then he continued "Not nearly enough to take… out the gnolls. Gwynn… I hope she's still alive." He said as he coughed up another glob of blood. "Listen, ma'am? I'm not gonna make it am I?"

I shook my head. "You've already lost too much blood, I'd wager you wouldn't last the hour. Got any last requests?"

He nodded. "Just two." He handed me his keepsakes, "The first one, is to give these to the oracle for a memorial rite."

I took the keepsakes and placed them in my pocket. "And the second?" He handed me a picture of Gallagher and what I assumed was the dying man.

"Give this to Gallagher, tell him that Randall made sure to take seven of these fuckers with him to hell." I nodded grimly as I pocketed the picture and unsheathed my knife.

"You want me to make it quick?" I asked him as I prepared to end his life at his request, something nobody should ever have to do.

"Yeah, I wanna die with my last thoughts being…" He coughed up even more blood. He'd be dead by the next five minutes. "of the people I've helped protect. Thank you."

I nodded grimly, "May you rest in peace, Randall." I said followed by slamming my knife into his temple and twisting it sharply before I removed it and cleaned it off. "Let's go Lance." I said as I sheathed my knife.

As we moved on we stopped seeing as many bodies. I decided to point this out. "Lance, have you noticed how a few rooms after I…" I couldn't find the right word for the term, "My point is, we haven't seen nearly as many corpses now. Do you think the Royal Ar- Wait! I can hear Gwynn!" We rushed ahead to see only one human on their feet, the rest were on the ground, they were badly beaten, but still alive.

The white gnoll was within striking range when I heard Lance shout "Gwynn! **NO!**" The next thing I knew, he **threw** his pillar at the white gnoll, hitting it in the face! While it didn't kill the gnoll outright, it did do enough damage to knock him down to one knee.

Before the gnoll could recover, Lance ran up to the gnoll, propped it up, and then proceeded to beat the ever loving shit out of the gnoll with his bare hands. I was tending to Gwynn's injuries as she took off her helmet, revealing her blonde hair that was matted with blood. I was about to administer first aid, but Abyssion warned me.

"_**Shana! Lunging gnoll on your left!**_**" **Abyssion shouted as my body acted on reflex.

I pushed Gwynn out of the way as I did the only thing I had time to do: Hit the deck. Which turned out being pretty hilarious as the Gnoll sailed over my head and impacted the pillar.

I couldn't help myself as I started laughing like crazy as the pillar collapsed on the gnoll. Once I stopped laughing I pulled the gnoll out of the rubble and unsheathed my knife. "You aren't getting off that easy you son-of-a-bitch. I'm making sure that you're dead."

The gnoll looked at me as I stabbed my swords into each of his hands, keeping him from moving. Then, I shoved my right hand into his chest, and pulled out his heart. "You've wounded your last human." I said as I watched the life fade from the gnoll's eyes.

"I want to get out of here as soon as I can, but I won't be able to move you without risking some serious internal injuries. Gwynn, I hope you aren't emotionally attached to your armor, because it's gonna have to come off. It's probably what's causing you so much pain."

As I began removing the pieces of her armor, Gwynn said to me. "I'm glad you guys got to me when you did. A moment later and I would have been dead."

I smiled at her "Actually, the thing that saved you was Lance throwing his pillar at the gnoll. All I did was push you out of the way. Regardless, chances are we're going to be spending the night here." As Gwynn opened her mouth to speak, I cut her off. "I'll send Fenrir back to the Blades with a situation report as well as tell them not to worry." As soon as I finished that sentence, Fenrir walked up to me as I began writing a letter, once I sealed it I placed it in a wide flask so Fenrir's slobber wouldn't ruin the ink.

Gwynn looked at me, "Why don't we send one of the survivors to the Blades instead?"

I looked over my shoulder to the wounded men who were recovering. "Because the Gnolls will probably be looking for stragglers. I already had to put a soldier out of his misery earlier, I'd rather not have to do it again anytime soon." I said as I let my hair cover my eyes.

I saw Gwynn take something out of her pouch. "What's that Gwynn?"

She smiled "Food Rations, you want some?"

I stared at her as I thought about it "Hmm… Are you sure?" Gwynn nodded as she handed me a third of her rations. "It'll last me until tonight hopefully, then I can hunt some gnolls for meat." I said as I started munching on the rations. "Hey, this isn't too bad. Lance and I were in such a rush that I forgot to pack rations since I didn't think we'd be here long."

Gwynn looked at me curiously. "Why were you in such a rush?"

I looked at her solemnly "Apparently, that mission that you sent me on really pissed off the gnolls, and that pushed them to the brink of all-out war against us. We were supposed to get here before you to try to defuse the situation, but obviously we were too late." I looked up at the sky, and noticed that it was almost nightfall. "Damn, must've lost track of time."

Lance walked up to me. "Hey Shana, most of the men's wounds have been dealt with for now, but we're starting to run low on food."

I nodded as I was sharpening my knife. "I feared as much, tell the men I'll personally find us something to eat soon, in the meantime, get a campfire started, I'll stay here until you return because we need someone combat-ready in case the gnolls attack." Lance nodded as he went off to grab some wood.

"_Abyss, you there? I want to ask you something."_ I said to him as I closed my eyes.

"_**I'm all ears." **_He responded.

"_The seal is weakening again, isn't it?" _I said with a hint of something between concern and panic in my voice.

"_**Yeah, I don't know what's changed, but I can feel that something is different now. Regardless, you did well today, I gotta admit, that was hilarious how the gnoll crashed into the pillar. Speaking of pillars, it looks like your pillar tossing friend has returned." **_Abyssion said as I opened my eyes again.

Lance set down the pieces of wood he found on the ground silently, so as to not alert any nearby gnolls. Once he got the fire going I stood up and started walking to the area the gnoll was guarding. But not before I took my swords off of my back and laid them next to Gwynn, I needed to travel light for this.

"Shana? Where are you going?" Lance called out without looking at me as he began using the flint to create sparks.

I merely responded "I'm going to get us some food. Don't worry, I can be stealthy if I need to be." I said as I walked into the ruins.

As I walked into the ruins, I started rolling my feet when I walked and noticed that it made _far_ less sound when I walked, in fact, my steps became _silent!_ _"Hmm, when I walk like this I distribute the weight evenly and I don't make a sound, I'll have to keep that in mind." _I thought to myself as I looked around the corner, my knife at the ready. I saw a gnoll coming to where I was hiding, as soon as it came around the corner, yanked it around the corner, and snapped its neck.

I was thinking whether or not one gnoll would be enough for a couple of people, but decided to snag another one before I headed back. Thankfully, I didn't have to go far because I found yet another one. I snuck up behind the gnoll as I held my knife in a reverse grip just in case it turned around so I could slit it's throat swiftly. When I reached the gnoll I covered its mouth with my left hand as I spun my knife into a normal grip as I pinned it on the ground and slit its throat.

"_Two clean kills, not bad at all… This should be enough for the whole group" _I thought to myself as I cleaned my knife and took my prey back to the camp…

When I arrived back at the camp, I saw everyone's eyes light up as they saw me return. Lance was the first to speak up. "Shana, just in time, the men ran out of rations about ten minutes ago and have been starving, what are we eating?"

I tossed the two gnolls in front of the men. As I thought, some of the men started complaining about gnoll meat and such. I decided I wasn't going to have any of this shit.

"Shut the fuck up and deal with it!" I said venomously as I continued "I risked my life to make sure you all survived and I'm not about to hear you bitch and moan just because I don't get you what you want! Out here, you do whatever it takes to survive. If I could have found a rabbit or some other woodland creature, I would have gone for it, but I had to make do with what I could find. So **don't complain!**"

As I began skinning the gnolls, one of the soldiers walked up to me; one of the ones who accepted what I got them. And began speaking to me. "Shana, right?"

I nodded "Yeah, what is it?" I asked him as I cut the first gnoll open gently while doing my best to ensure that I didn't cut the meat itself. Once I finished cutting it open, I looked at the soldier and gestured for him to continue.

"I don't want to sound like I'm bitching, but what are the odds of us catching something from eating these gnolls." He asked me hesitantly.

I smiled as I looked at him, "That's actually a valid question, if you ate it raw, then yeah, you'd definitely catch something. But if we cook it well enough, you shouldn't catch anything."

"Why is that?" he asked me as I continued preparing the meat for eating.

I shrugged "I dunno, it just works that way, I guess. Something about the heat kills the crap that carries the disease from what Kirstie told me."

"Who's Kirstie?" the soldier asked me as I stuck the gnoll meat on a rotisserie and began turning the meat as I started seasoning it.

"Kirstie runs the Traveler's Shop in Colhen. She's a huntress so she knows this stuff. I don't particularly enjoy eating gnoll meat, but I won't turn it away if it's my last resort." I said as I rotated the meat not too slow, but not too fast either. After about ten more minutes I could smell the cooked meat easily.

Lance started waking everybody up. "C'mon everyone, I think the meat is ready."

I took a piece off the rotisserie and tasted it. "By the goddess… This is **amazing!**" I said as I began to distribute the food to the soldiers, once that was taken care of, I started digging into my own piece.

"Uhh… what's that smell? It smells really good." Gwynn said as she woke up.

"I decided to hunt for some food since the men's rations ran out. I couldn't find any normal wildlife so I had to make do with what I could find, which was Gnoll Meat." I said as I pointed to the skinned gnoll near the entrance.

Gwynn merely smiled at me. "That was clever thinking. Is it any good?"

I tossed her a gnoll leg, "See for yourself. I prepared the entire thing myself." I watched with a smile as Gwynn took a tentative bite and began eating the leg in earnest once she realized how tasty it was.

"Sweet mother of Morrighan, this is delicious! You're a hell of a cook, Shana!" Gwynn said as the rest of the men started asking me to make some more meat.

"Keep it down, you don't want the gnolls to hear you, but I will make some more meat for us, then Lance and I will take turns on watch, Lance has been watching the camp all night, and I've been prepping food, so Gwynn, you're on first watch. Is that alright?"

Gwynn nodded, "Sure, you guys saved our behinds, it's the least I can do."

As I finished cooking the second batch of meat I began to eat when I thought I heard something.

"_Abyss? Did you hear that?" _I asked him to make sure it wasn't my exhaustion getting to me.

"_**Yeah, I can sense four creatures approaching us, I can't tell from where we are, but I think they might be human."**_He replied, giving me a sense of relief, but I stayed on my guard.

I could hear the creature's footsteps getting closer, when they were upon me I grabbed the creature from behind and held my knife to their throat. "Can you understand me?" I said, ready to slit the creature's throat if they proved hostile.

"Whoa! Easy Shana! It's me!" Alex's voice called out.

I eased my knife, "Alex? Is that you?"

"The very same, and I brought reinforcements! Now would you kindly remove your knife from my throat?" He asked me as I complied.

I removed my knife from his throat and sheathed it. "Sorry about that, I haven't had much sleep and I heard footsteps, so I had to take precautions. But how did you know it was me?" My eyes narrowed. "And what do you mean by reinforcements?"

Alex called out again, "You're the only person here besides me who has a survival knife now, it was easy to figure that it was you. As for the reinforcements…"

Alex walked into the moonlight, followed by Ryn, Nolan, and Fenrir. I breathed a sigh of relief "Man, am I glad to see you guys… " I gestured to the wounded soldiers. "We didn't make it in time to stop the fight, but we did manage to save all of the guys you see here. Their wounds have been tended to, and I had to kill two gnolls so we could eat well. I bet you're starving. Don't worry, I just finished this batch when you guys arrived."

I looked at Ryn, and spoke to her "Ryn, is it okay if we talk about… " I gestured to where my dark soul resided as I continued, "around them?"

Ryn chuckled "Alex is the only one who doesn't know. We can talk more once you've rested, I'm sure you're tired."

I handed everyone a piece of the meat as they sat down and began eating. I wanted to stay up and watch my handiwork, but I felt so tired.

Ryn noticed this and reassured me. "Don't worry Shana, you're safe now, you did very well for your first time in a bad situation, you go ahead and rest. We'll keep watch."

I nodded off to sleep as I rested my head on Fenrir's side.

**A/N: Sorry for the delay. But I'm gonna try to make these chapters longer and longer as I go! So keep on churning out those reviews people! **


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